Living by Faith in Everyday Life

Everyday concerns

Let’s think about a generic kind of day.

You wake up, and as you get out of bed, you feel the aches and pains throughout your body. You worry, how am I going to get through this day when I’m not even sure my body will let me.

But you push through and you walk out into the main living area of your house. The house is still a mess and you wonder how you’re going to find the time to get it cleaned.

You go into the kitchen and there is a long trail of ants - it’s become a problem that you’re really trying to get rid of but you just can’t.

As you eat breakfast, you start thinking about all the things you were meant to do yesterday but either ran out of time for or just forgot.

As you drive to wherever it is you have to be, you drive past the service station and see the price of fuel has risen again - filling the tank is going to be hard next time.

You get a phone call from a friend. You’ve been arguing a bit lately and you know it’s over stupid things, but you know you just need to hold your ground. Your worried about what will happen with the friendship.

You go about your daily business, but you have this health issue that just seems to persist. You don’t really want to go to the doctor about it. Perhaps it’s nothing. But what if it’s something major.

Now, I could keep on going, but the point is, in just a fairly generic day, there’s a very high chance by the middle of the day, you’ve already worried about lots of things.

Now, over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been exploring what it means to live by faith. For the most part, the focus of that has really been on the bigger decisions - you know, when we step out in those bigger choices of life.

But living by faith should effect all of our lives, and this means those every day little things that are constantly giving us anxiety.

So the big question I want to explore today is how can we make our walk of faith not only will we make good decisions, but also that our faith will inform our perspective on life.

Do not worry

Now, the passage I’ve chosen for today is going to use the words: “do not worry...”

Now one thing I’ve learnt is that when someone is in the middle of being worried about a particularly matter, if you go up to them and say, ‘hey, just don’t worry about it’, the chances that they actually just stop worrying is… well, very remote.

Worry is one of those things that we don’t tend to consciously choose to do, so trying to control it can be very difficult.

But the main point I want to make today is that cultivating a walk of faith helps reduce the worry in our life.

Worry v Concern

Now, before I continue, I want to make a differentiation between worry and concern.

When someone you love or care for goes through some sort of struggle, it is natural that we show concern for their situation. This should be the natural response borne out of love.

But concern can turn into worrry.

Worry adds fear and anxiety to the concern.

Now, sometimes that might be inevitable.

But is it possible that when we add faith and trust to the concerns we have, rather than worry, we end up with something much more productive.

I’m not going to pretend it’s easy, but a walk of faith has never really been something easy, because it’s going to require us to let go, and we feel a lack of control when this happens.

Context - Sermon on the Mount

Well, to help us think about this, we’re going to turn to the Sermon on the Mount.

When I was up in Papua New Guniea just recently, I had the privilege of speaking at a youth camp held at Faith Mission Gouno, and I went through the teaching we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount.

It’s found in Matthew 5-7 and it’s really the teaching Jesus gives that lays out the way of his new kingdom he is establishing - the kingdom of heaven.

It’s a teaching that is going to flip upside down what is essentially the established worldview of pretty much everyone. It’s a teaching that will challenge the value system of those who hear it.

The established world view said you are blessed if you have lots of power and lots of possessions.

But Jesus starts by saying, blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed are the meek.

It’s this upside down teaching, that will lead him to say in Matt 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasureson earth… butt store up for yourselves treasures in heaven”.

When your value system change to something that resembles the kingdom of heaven, your whole perspective on life changes.

And it’s this kind of change in thinking that is going to be essentially in understanding what it means to live by faith.

If you’re not going to shift into a kingdom of heaven way of life, which is what this whole sermon on the mount teaching is pushing us towards… then any attempt to walk by faith that we’re about to look at will be futile.

Worry reveals our true treasure

So let me look at the first verse in our passage for today.

Matthew 6:25 ““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”

Worry is not compatible with the faith driven life of someone living a kingdom focussed life. Why? Because the journey of faith drives us to things of God’s kingdom.

Worry, on the other hand, is concerned about the things of this world.

Just look at that verse again.

It picks out two things, namely, what you’re going to eat or drink, and secondly, what you’re going to wear.

Now, on one level you can make a pretty good argument that these are some pretty basic essentially for life. You do need food and you do need clothes.

Now, lets just think about this for a moment.

You see, while food and clothes are essential, I’m going to suggest that much of our worries about such items tend not to be, do I have food or clothes, but rather can I get food and clothes that impress others.

Now I’m going to admit, there are some people we’re financial trouble exist, such that getting any food or any clothes is a real struggle. Let me just leave that person aside for the moment, because there will be something to say to that person in just a moment, and instead focus for now on the person’s who worry is actually about how much they stand out.

You see, we’ve got to remember that Jesus has just finished teaching on where your treasure is.

A walk of faith is not concerned with the treasures of this world.

A walk of faith can sometimes mean missing out on the superficial niceties of this world.

When we walk by faith, God’s not going to neglect our real needs. He will give us the food we need to sustain life, and he will give us the clothes we need for the protection of our bodies, and at times, he will give generously and more than we need, but this generosity in material possessions is not the prize - we’re seeking after a much bigger reward - treasures in heaven!

A walk of faith points us to treasures in heaven.

Whaty does this mean?

The ultimate treasure in heaven is spending eternity with God.

But treasures in heaven are also the spiritual blessings we receive along the way - the supernatural comfort we feel… the blessing of knowing we are loved no matter what our past entails… the blessing of knowing that a real peace is possible when we stay close to Jesus.

When our faith journey points us in this direction, you’ll start to see the worries fade away, because these things can’t be taken away by anything of this world.

Faith points us to God’s care

But let’s keep going in the passage.

Jesus is about to remind us all of the Father’s great care for us.

And the point is going to be this. If you really believe in faith that the Father really does care for you and that he has the power to look after you - then why would you worry.

To make this point, Jesus is going to give us two examples.

Birds

First, he points to the birds in the sky.

Now, depending on where you are, sometimes you can be surrounded by birds.

Now, a quick google search I did in preparation for this message suggested there are about 11,000 different bird species, and so I’m going to acknowledge that depending on the bird species, there are going to be many different practices in terms of storing up food and the like, but for the most part, the majority of birds just take food as it comes before them. They don’t need to have a complicated process of farming and sowing and reaping and storing. They get hungry, and so they find a worm. Or perhaps a fish. Or perhaps some fruit on a tree.

The point Jesus is making is not that we should stop our farming practices. But rather, pointing out that God is actually creating the situation such that it’s possible for the bird to just get food whenever it needs it. Jesus describes it as the Heavenly Father feeding them, because essentially, that is exactly what he is doing.

And then the point is this… are you not much more valuable then a bird?

It’s a journey of faith that is going to see the truth to this point.

If by faith you believe that, first, God cares enough to look after the birds, and second, that he cares for you much more, then it’s not that much of a leap to believe that God is going to care for you in a much more profound way.

Flowers

In the second example, he then points to some flowers.

One of the big features that our PNG team noticed as we got to Goroka, and then in more so when we arrived at Gouno was that there were flowers everywhere and they were incredible. They were just beautiful.

I imagine that Jesus is pointing to a flower of similar beauty. He even declares “I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these”.

This is all a result of the design that God made for these flowers. There incredible beauty is because that’s how God wanted it to be.

This time he points to their lack of faith.

“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the firs, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith”.

Stop worrying about what the world worries about. God knows what you need and he will provide it.

Reliance on God

You see, here’s the thing in both of these examples, God is pointing to things in nature to show God cares about what he creates. And you were the peak of his creation. Of course he is going to care about you.

You can rely on God.

He is willing. And he is capable.

You know, this is one reason it’s good to reflect back on things in your life.

Sometimes in the moment, it can feel like God isn’t coming through for you.

I mentioned before that sometimes there are people who really are in such a financial state that they’re not really sure how they’re going to pay for their grocery bill, or if they’ll be able to buy clothes to replace the ones that are falling apart.

They could very well ask - why hasn’t God come through for me? Is it because he doesn’t love me?

But think back over your life. You’ll start to see litttle ways in which God has constantly been working in the background, providing your needs. That’s not to say it wasn’t tough. But when we trust God, he always provides our needs.

If we truly believe this, we don’t need to worry.

Seek first the kingdom

There’s a key verse in here that I believe helps us unlock all of this, and it comes in verse 33.

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

A walk of faith focusses our attention on God’s kingdom.

This focus changes everything. Because we stop seeing things from the perspective of this world, and instead see it from the perspective of the kingdom.

You know, one of the things I loved about being in Gouno was seeing the young kids just playing in this really happy way.

There weren’t on devices. They were mostly wearing clothes, many of which had been handed down from Australians. There food was mostly veggies that I suspect most Australian kids would completely turn their noses up at. They had very little possessions. Their bedrooms were tiny, with many of them sharing their tiny rooms with others. Most Australian kids would look at their situation and think they had nothing. And yet they had this great joy.

The kids I saw were kids that had been brought up knowing the love of Jesus. And it showed!

I think it’s not hard to see how all the possessions we have here in a country like Australia actually become a distraction for us.

But yet even in our country, it is actually possible to seek first God’s kingdom.

But it does mean changing your priorities. It means being generous is better than keeping for yourself. It means putting others before yourself. It means loving the praise of God over the praise of man. It means using power to serve others rather than yourself.

You change your priorities and the world looks different. It doesn’t matter if your possessions are not the latest. If you’re loved by God, you have everything you need.

Walking by faith

Walking by faith is not just about the big decisions we make. Walking by faith is about the posture we take in this world. It’s a posture of obedience and trust.

And when we take this posture, the worries of this world will just fade.

When I say, “do not worry”, you’re not going to achieve this by just trying harder at not worrying. That is always doomed to fail.

Rather, we do it by cultivating that walk of faith such that we have a posture of trust and obedience. It’s a journey and it’s something we always strive towards.

If you do find yourself worrying, that’s okay - in fact, I might even suggest it’s inevitable, but just keep that walk of faith going.

Let me just end with the last verse because I think it is a classic line:

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

And they all said: Amen!

Let me pray...