Do Not Be Anxious-Part 2

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MW Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a sermon given by Mentoring Warriors’ Executive Director, David Riffel at a village church in Malawi Africa.

Listen to Jesus again in verse 31.

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

God knows your stomach. He knows your body and he knows that you need food and clothing. But, we are to not to spend our energy and time pursuing them,  Instead, there is a greater and far better use of our time.

And, here it is.  Listen to what Jesus says in this next very important verse.

 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 

Jesus is telling us to, by faith, make his kingdom the most important thing about our life.  

His kingdom means God’s priorities, including God’s righteous ways.  To do such we must operate out of trust and not anxiety.

Back when I had my heart surgery, I mentioned it was a year of anxiety for me. 

God taught me that He holds my life and I am alive every day, every hour, every minute, every second by His good pleasure

and that instead of worrying about tomorrow, I can rest in His never-ending love for me.

There is a man I know who will ask anyone he meets this question.

Do you live by a settled soul or an unsettled soul?

Am I trusting in God who is greater than my needs?  

Do I believe that God will provide in ways only He can, or am I going to live with worry, anxiety, and fear because my faith is small?

I go back to what George Muller said almost 200 years ago.

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

George Muller prayed and prayed and prayed. His faith was measured by his prayer life. 

The story is told of a time when there was no food to feed the children in the orphanage.  The cook came to George and said

Sir, we have no food to feed the children. What should we do?  

George thought for a moment and said,

Have the children sit at the tables and wait.

I will gather others to join me and we will start praying for God to provide.

George and the others prayed for God to provide food for the hungry children.

The many children gathered at their tables waiting for food.

About then, a knock came at the door of the orphanage.  

A breadmaker was passing by the orphanage delivering his bread to houses and stores when his horse-drawn wagon broke down.  

The breadmaker said:  My wagon broke down. All of this bread will go to waste while I fix the wagon.  Would you have any need for many loaves of bread?

George Muller smiled and said,  You are God’s provision.

God provided food for the children just in time.

Sure, you can say it was because the horse-drawn wagon broke down in front of the orphanage.  And that it was a coincidence.  

But, I say it was God. 

I am not going to tell you that every time you pray, God will provide a broken-down horse-drawn wagon at your door, but I am saying God will show up.

God responds to faith.

Let me share another story that happened a few years ago in South Sudan.

A few years ago a friend of mine was in Juba, South Sudan with two other Americans who were asked to travel to Torit to see a project some nuns were doing to help over one thousand children. 

South Sudan is about 3000 kilometres north of here.

This is the story he shared. 

Early one morning the three men left with three nuns and a hired driver to make the three to four-hour drive through the bush to the village of Torit. 

Twice in our journey, we rounded a corner to find an army tank on the road with the barrel pointed in our direction. Fortunately, no one was in the tanks.

We arrived in Torit, saw the work at the orphanage, met the Bishop (a wonderful brother), and had a light meal before starting the drive back to Juba. 

We didn’t know until later while on our return trip that the vehicle was low on fuel.

About two hours into our return to Juba you can guess what happened. We ran out of fuel.

As we were coasting to a stop in the hot African sun, one thought kept repeating itself in my mind of my friend, “The work is believing the person of Jesus. The work is believing the person of Jesus”. 

At that moment, the work was not finding fuel (but we needed some). 

The work was not finding cell phone coverage (but we’d really like to have it). 

The work was not avoiding bandits (but we didn’t want to meet any). 

The work was believing the person of Jesus.

As the car rolled to a stop and I opened the door and put my tennis shoes on the red dirt road to stand up,

 I whispered, “I’ll do the work. I’ll believe (trust, rely on) the person of Jesus. I will do the work.” 

Truthfully, I didn’t know exactly what that meant or what exactly I should do to do the work. So I walked to the front of the car and just stood there “doing the work.” 

We hadn’t seen another vehicle on the road for the past two hours. But standing there, almost in disbelief, I saw a car coming our way (heading toward Torit). 

I didn’t know what to do. How does one flag a car down in South Sudan? 

What if bandits occupied the car? Should I be waving or running?

Instead, I chose to just stand and do the work. As it turned out the Archdiocese of South Sudan owned the car. In the car were a priest and five others on their way to see the Bishop we’d just been with. 

Immediately, the car pulled off and the occupants all exited and asked if everything was in order. (

After assessing the situation, they offered to ferry our team about 30 kilometers back toward Torit to a small village where there was cell phone coverage. We could call for help from there. 

Before this plan could be enacted, we saw a second vehicle coming down the road. It was a huge transport truck with red dust swirling behind it. 

It drove past our car and then pulled off the road and stopped, though no one had signaled, waved, or whistled. 

The truck driver got out and walked up to our group. 

Before anyone could say a word to him, he spoke and the first words out of his mouth were: “I have 20 liters of gasoline. Would you like it?” 

My friend said, “We’d love it and would love to pay you for it.”

The fuel went in the tank and our car roared to life!

We were on our way back to Juba.

 All of this took 15 minutes! I came home believing that the work is believing in Jesus. 

Jesus wants to show up in your life. What do you need to be trusting God for?

“The work is believing the person of Jesus.

To quote George Muller again.

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

So, you have a choice.

Do you want to live in anxiety or do you want to end anxiety by living by true faith?

George Muller also said…

The temptation is to cease praying, as though we had given up hope, and to say, “It is useless; we have already prayed so long that it is useless to continue.” This is just what Satan would have us say; 

but let us persevere and go on steadily praying, and be assured that God is both able and willing to do it for us; 

Jesus said it is better to live by faith, seeking His kingdom first than to live by anxiety and worry about things that God knows we need. 

I want to close with this challenge.

As you walk away from anxiety and towards faith in Jesus, your entire identity as a man, a woman, a young man, or a young woman, or as a child will change for the good.

You will see God’s purpose more in your life.

And, here is the challenge.

God wants your faith to help others grow in their faith.

The way that happens is by you bringing courage to one another to trust in Jesus.

When your brother or sister is discouraged, pray with them.  

Whenever you are… whatever you are doing.

In the field, walking on the way. Sitting down under the shade tree.  

Put your arms around each other and pray for God to increase your faith.

Satan wants you to live with anxiety.

Jesus is far greater and calls you to live by faith.

To quote George Muller again.

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

AMEN.

Warrior On!