What, Me Worry? God Will Provide
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Beth Henricks
July 13, 2025
Welcome to our First Friends virtual service this week. Bob is traveling and I am sharing the message with you today.
We had such a great time at VBS this past week as you saw in the video. We spent our week talking about how Jesus gives us hope, gives us courage, and encourages us to trust God and not to worry. I’d like to focus on this idea of worry and is it possible at this time in our lives to not worry.
Our scripture reading is Matthew 6:25-34 NRSV version.
Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[ And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
As I talk to people, I hear so much worry and anxiety. We bring our personal worries about our health, our kids, jobs, financial stability, struggling friends, and so many other concerns on our heart. We also have worry and anxiety about the broader issues within our communities, our country and our world. Bombings, conflicts, tearing apart of families, affordability, housing and so many other things. It feels at times that we can be overwhelmed by this worry which will weigh on us physically, mentally and emotionally in our daily lives.
Anxiety can consume our attention and our energy. We live in a hyperconnected world where we can be connected to everyone else’s anxieties. With social media, we live in our anxieties and the anxieties of everyone we are connected with online.
And yet Jesus talks about a different view of life and our anxiety. Jesus is not suggesting that we don’t have real concerns about aspects of our lives in terms of finances, family, health, jobs, future etc. And Jesus is not saying that our concerns about our communities, our country and our world should be swept away into a utopian sense that everything will be ok. Things may fall apart, we may get sick, have children that deeply struggle, lose jobs, have concerns over finances and paying bills and so much more. Rather Jesus is asking us to step into a place beyond our concerns of food, drink and clothing. While these are legitimate pegs of survival that we must deal with, Jesus invites us to a deeper place of trust in God that goes far beyond our immediate needs, concerns and worries.
Jesus starts this passage of Scripture with therefore, which means the prior verses are important. Just prior to this section Jesus says “no one can serve two masters; for a slave will hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Jesus seems pretty direct in this prior passage and this Scripture encourages and admonishes us to serve God, to trust God, to believe that God will take care of us and not to serve wealth. Is that the opposite of worrying about money in our lives?
Jesus talks so much about kingdoms. The old kingdoms described in the Old Testament are kingdoms of anxiety. The kingdoms of this world today breed in fear and anxiety to make us afraid and willing to abandon the idea of a new kingdom that Jesus talked about so much in the Gospels. Anxiety is the thriving pulse of an old realm because it is built on the desperate search for that which only God can give.
I am reflecting on the specifics of the verses that we just read. The birds do not sow or reap or stay in barns. They are never idle and are constantly pecking at this or that and constantly trying to gather food. They are always working. And their desire to find food is paramount to their survival. And even in difficult circumstances the food is found. Does that provide solace to us believing that God will provide?
We are often preoccupied with the basic question: Do I have enough? And if not, how can I get more, so I will have enough. Is that the right question to be asking? Sometimes we have enough for today, but we want more. And our worry and lack of trust in God are stumbling blocks to a deeper sense of peace within God’s being.
We worry about so many things we can’t control. They consume us at times and yet if we can stop pecking away and playing a movie reel in our heads that may or may not come to reality, we can breathe, let go and allow our souls to rest in the arms of God.
I was diagnosed with uterine cancer 20 years ago. It was a shock and stunned me when my doctor called to share this information. I had a business trip to California the following week and still in denial I said I needed to go on that weeklong trip. My doctor said you will cancel that trip and you will need to have a complete hysterectomy next week. My life was turned upside down and that information sent me into a spin of worry and anxiety. And then I started receiving so many calls and cards and notes from people that expressed their love for me in profound ways that they never would have shared if I wasn’t facing the worry of cancer. I entered this situation feeling more loved than I had ever felt in my life. My worry and anxiety turned into trust in God and knew that healing comes in many forms.
I am thankful for the 20 years I have had cancer free. I also know that the gratitude of my family and friends and strangers changed my outcome.
My son who is now a new dad and almost six years in sobriety talked to me about the answer to worry being a gratitude list. When we are at our lowest point of worry and anxiety, we need to list out those things we are grateful for to bring us back into this place of peace in God’s embrace.
As we enter our waiting worship I offer the following queries:
What worries are weighing us down today?
What do I need to release to God?
What is on my gratitude list today?