Most of us will worry about money at some point in our lives. You may be living that experience right now. Unexpected bills have a way of showing up at the worst possible moment, leaving us to wonder how we are ever going to pay them off. But when we look at scripture, we see a very different principle in play. Jesus tells us not to worry about money or any material needs (Matthew 6:25).
To the best of our knowledge, Jesus was unemployed during His ministry years, as were all His disciples. Not once do you read about them stressing over how they would pay their bills that month. The instructions of Jesus were for them to seek first His Kingdom, and He would provide all their needs (Matthew 6:33). It comes down to a matter of trust.
Jesus tells His followers not to worry about what they would eat, what they would drink, or what they would wear (Matthew 6:31). He knew their needs and said if they would just keep their eyes on Him, He would take care of them (Matthew 6:32-33). Please note He did not say He would make them wealthy, or even healthy, as many false teachers would like you to believe. His command was simple: follow Me and don’t worry about the things of this world. Again, it comes down to a matter of trust.
Pushing their faith even further, Jesus then sent His disciples out to the surrounding cities to proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. There was only one catch. Jesus told them not to take any money with them, and not even a change of clothes (Matthew 10:5-15). As if the task before them wasn’t daunting enough, they were going to have to do it with no resources. This is where trust comes in. The only resource they needed was Jesus. He would not only take care of their physical needs, He was also the source of the power they needed to complete the mission.
Later in His ministry, a powerful man with great wealth asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16-22). Jesus told the man he must sell everything he had and give the proceeds to the poor. There was nothing wrong with the riches of the man. The problem was a matter of trust. This man put all his trust and confidence in his money. We have not cut ties with the world until we come to the point where we trust Jesus to provide whatever we need, no matter the circumstances in our life (Philippians 4:19). Until we do, we don’t trust that Jesus can do what He promises (Hebrews 13:5).
When times get tough, where is your trust? It’s difficult to surrender control (Proverbs 3:5-6). The truth is, we were never in control of anything anyway (James 4:14). If we were so good at handling things, we wouldn’t be in the mess in our midst! When Jesus is everything to us, all the cares, pressures, and trials of this world will fade into the background (Colossians 3:2; 2 Corinthians 4:18). Keep your eyes on Him and cut away everything in your life that is not of Him. Jesus is all you need, but you must decide to believe He will do what He said He would, or deny He has the power to guide you through. It all comes down to a matter of trust.