Do not worry

Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life, about what you eat and what you drink; neither on your body, even with what you shall put on. 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; yet your heavenly Father nourishes them; do you not go far beyond them? Who among you can add one cubit to his height by being anxious? And what are you concerned about the clothes? Look at the lilies in the field, how they grow; they don't work and they don't spin; and I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Now if God thus clothes the grass in the field, which is today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be concerned and do not say: What shall we eat? or: What shall we drink? or: What shall we clothe ourselves with? For all these things the Gentiles seek. After all, your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Then do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself; each day has enough of its own evil.
(Matthew 6:25-34)

These verses teach that we have a Father who exactly knows each person's needs and that He loves and cares for us. Nothing escapes Him. All He asks of us is to trust Him. He says very emphatically, “Do not worry”!
Elsewhere in the Word of God it is written:

Entrust your way to the LORD, and trust in Him: He will do it” (Psalm 37:5).
“Cast your care upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will not suffer the righteous one to totter forever.”
“Be anxious in nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your desires be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
“Command the rich in this present world that they be not haughty, and do not put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who richly furnishes us with all things for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6 :17).
“Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Philippians 4:6 plainly says “Don't worry about anything”. Anxiety, fear, nervous agitation, all these things dishonor God. They are expressions of a carnal unbelieving attitude.
George Müller rightly said the following:

Where concern begins, faith ends.
Where faith begins, care ends.

Anxiety is particularly foolish, because…”Who among you can add one cubit to his height by being anxious?” (Matthew 6:27; see also Luke 12:25). 2 Isn't it true that God carries everyone's life and destiny in His Own hand? We cannot add or take anything from that. See what Daniel said to even wicked Belshazzar:

“But you have the God in Whose hand is your breath and to Whose all your paths belong, not glorified” (Daniel 5:23).

Why, then, should God not fully control and care for the lives and needs of those who are His beloved children! It is a dishonor of God's love if we doubt it!
Look at our calling and election, as Paul teaches us through the Holy Spirit:

And we know that to those who love God all things work together for good, even to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He predestined, them He also called, and those whom He called, them He also justified, and those whom He justified, them He also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30).

The Lord has known – destined – called – justified – glorified us! He is the Alpha and the Omega, but also our beginning and our final destination. After all, we are included in Him: “… your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3)! If then we are hid with Christ in God, what could happen to us?! When we look to ourselves, instead of to our mighty and loving Lord, then anxiety arises, and then we tend to put our trust in the help of people, family, money or other worldly things, with the necessary fear of if something would go wrong.

helpless

We are indeed utterly helpless within ourselves, and if we dwell on that, we are not actually seeking the safety of our Heavenly Father. We then pretend that He is not there at all! That is the tendency to disbelief and self-determination that we have received from Adam, the old nature.

However, we can throw up everything to Him who cares about us and who longs for an intimate communion with us, in which there is confidence. That 'everything' really concerns everything, so also the little things that move us in daily life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be thrown to you”.

Worry about what's to come

Another characteristic of concern is it incredulous foresight. This is perhaps the most painful of all and it gives us sleepless nights. Unbelief stirs up thoughts of dark scenes and all kinds of despair. Unbelief grips us with things that will never come. All this is very foolish, for our Lord Jesus said:

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself; each day has enough of its own evil[1].
(Matthew 6:34).

The Lord does not promise us a paradise on earth, but He is always there to keep things under control and so all things work together for good. In doing so, we must address our concerns on a daily basis, in communion with the Lord, and not days or more in advance. This does not mean that we should irresponsibly let things take their course, no, we bear the worries of the day in a faithful way and we do not worry about the future.

In connection with verse 34 we can also make a comparison with Exodus 16:4:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people must go out and gather the amount needed each day, that I may test them whether they walk in My law or not.”.

God gave the Israelites food for every day. Their attitude would show what is in their hearts. Those who do not trust God will collect more than is necessary and will thereby unbelievingly want to put themselves in 'safety'. God wanted to teach Israel that they depend on Him every day and can rely on Him, and that they don't matter. Later He taught His people to pray:Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Our concern does not have to extend over days, weeks or even longer! Every day we walk with the Lord and for that day our needs are met, by Him who always cares for us. We need not worry about the future days.

A warning

Furthermore, there is a solemn warning in Scripture to all those who, though calling themselves "Christians," allow themselves to be overcome by worries or concerns:

Be careful that your heart is not at any time weighed down by ... worries about the everyday things, and that that day does not happen to you unexpectedly. For as a snare it will come upon all who dwell on all the face of the earth. Watch then at all times and pray that you may be counted worthy to flee from all those things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man
(Lukas 21:34-36).

The "snare" that will come upon all who are preoccupied with "anxieties about the mundane things" is that the Church (or the Church, the "body of Christ", 1 Corinthians 12:27) will suddenly be raptured (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53), leaving behind the nominal Christians. The latter pursue earthly interests and are preoccupied with earthly concerns. They do not live in communion with God, nor do they trust in Him. On that unexpected day, the way will be cleared for the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3-9; 1 John 2:18) and then the great world conflagration will break out, culminating in the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21). the greatest world distress of all time (Luke 21:25). “For as the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37). Those who have not put their trust in God will suddenly find themselves left behind and soon after that will be at the mercy of the great world conflagration, which is sure to come!

We will have to learn and grow until we are inwardly at peace in the faith that our Heavenly Father cares for us in everything and always. Let's strive for that and pray for it. Then we will only consider the spiritual matters of the Kingdom of God and we will not be gripped by the fate that awaits those who do not trust in God and therefore are not vigilant about the really important things that will soon happen.

“Your life is hid with Christ in God”
(Colossians 3:3)


[1] Kantt. 41 in the King James Version: "That is, affliction, anguish, and anguish, which occurs every day."

Taken from  http://www.verhoevenmarc.be/PDF/geen-zorgen.pdf.