Do Not Worry

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What
shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these
things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (Matt. 6:31-32).

There are two reasons not to worry. First, that is what the
pagans do. Do you want to be like the unbelievers? Second, your Father knows
that you need all these things.

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

I remember 4 January 1958. We lived just off Piney Branch
Road on Aspen Street in Washington, D.C. It was a Saturday morning. We had a
little food in the house, but it was not the kind that our three preschool
children liked: no peanut butter, milk, bread, eggs, or orange juice. We had no
money to buy food. Standing in the dining room, Bessie and I read this passage
from Matthew to God. We told Him that we were not anxious and that we were
seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

The morning mail arrived. It included an envelope postmarked
Lancaster, PA. Inside the envelope was $3 and a tract on hell by Bishop J.C.
Ryle. It had no return address. We thanked God and bought the food.

By Tuesday evening, we were still out of money and again out
of food. We explained the problem to the children and asked Douglas to pray. He
was 4½ years old. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Douglas thanked God for
milk and bread.

On Wednesday morning, I made pancakes with no milk and no
eggs. After breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Bessie went to answer it.
It was the milkman. He said that he had four quarts of milk for us. Bessie told
him that we had not ordered it and he must have the wrong address. He answered
that he had the correct address. Someone else had ordered it for us. We put the
milk in the entryway and held a praise meeting around it. We thanked God for
the milk and reminded Him that we had also asked for bread.

I went back to my room for study. A few minutes later,
Bessie came running up the stairs with a $5 bill in her hand. She had found it
under a lamp while dusting the end table. (It had been left there as a gift by
someone we had been counseling.) In the next four hours, there were two more
answered prayers for us and another answered prayer for a friend.

In the years before 1958, I had been anxious several times.
That was the last time I was tempted to be anxious. God is and has been
faithful.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the Same
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