O my soul,

Do you wonder whether you will be OK? Do you wonder whether your loved ones will be OK?

You will, you know. How can I say that? Here’s how.

And [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.”

― Luke 12:22

And thus begins a familiar passage brim full of firm assurance from Jesus. But have we really understood this? Have we fully digested it? Has it become the firm foundation upon which we are living? For it must be that.

So let’s consider the whole of it.

And let’s begin by clarifying just what this is all about, for it is far wider than food and clothing.

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

― Luke 12:29-30

What exactly is it that the nations of the world seek after?⸺for it is more than merely food and drink and clothing. Is it not physical security and shelter and safety? Is it not financial security and employment and the means to live? Is it not mental and emotional well-being and friendship and relationship? Is it not love?

And even as he is reassuring his disciples, Jesus acknowledges that the issue is wider than food and clothing.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

― Luke 12:23

Isn’t it just?

But by focusing for a minute on food and clothing we can learn something about the Father heart of God.

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

― Luke 12:24-28

How the Lord delights to look after those he loves. And how he delights when they trust him to do so.

The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

― Psalm 147:11

And did you notice amidst the ravens and the lilies a vital principle which must be understood?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

― Luke 12:25-26

Adding or removing an hour of life is a trivial thing for the Lord of all Creation, but for us an impossibility.

We considered this previously in the context of the adequacy of God.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

― 2 Corinthians 12:10b

The self-sufficient or the would-be self-sufficient do not experience the provision of God because they look to themselves rather than to him⸺to the Creator God of the Universe no less, who holds all in the palm of his hand⸺the Creator God of the Universe whose generosity knows no bounds.

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

― Luke 12:32

Ultimately nothing is withheld, as Jesus himself said.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

― John 10:10b

Furthermore we must consider “do not be anxious” in the context in which Luke placed it. For what do we read immediately before this?

And [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

― Luke 12:16-21

How ironic is this? For how many of those seeking physical security and shelter and safety and financial security and mental and emotional well-being and love, how many of those wish they could enjoy what the rich man has? But God calls him fool.

“So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.

“Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

― Luke 12:21-22a,31

And at the same time Jesus tells us how to be rich towards God, and it is within each of our grasp.

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

― Luke 12:33-34

So where does that leave us in regard to all these things that we most desperately need?

Your Father knows that you need them.

― Luke 12:30b

Our Father in heaven knows what we need, notwithstanding it being far beyond any of our own ability to acquire. He knows. And he is generous beyond measure.

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

― Luke 12:32

O my soul, you are so looked after, more than you could possibly know or understand, so do not be anxious about anything! 🙏