"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."
-Matthew 6:33 NLT
What does this mean? Do we know how to first seek the Kingdom of God? Are we laying down our wants, desires, hopes, fears, and worries and searching for God's will in our life? Are we being guided by the Holy Spirit in all we do?
We live in a very tangible world. We have become so accustomed to having a traditional job, traditional income, traditional protection, and traditional possessions that provide us with a sense of security. All of these routine and mundane things provide a worldly comfort, but does this way of life require much faith? Is our faith and security in our things or in God?
The very next verse.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
-Matthew 6:34
What happens when we lose one or all of these tangible things listed above? How quickly do we slip into worry and fear? We like knowing how much we will be getting paid, when we will be getting paid, when our next grocery pick up is scheduled for, etc. What happens when these things go away?
Let's back things up...
"That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs."
-Matthew 6:25-32 NLT
Since we have become so used to all of the tangible things, when one of these things is missing, it is too easy to try to take things into our own hands and figure these things out ourselves. This is what the world does. It seems to work for them. As for believers, we are not called to do things as the world does. And yet, we do things backwards. We try to repair or restore these tangible ways of life in our own strength and when they fail, THEN we turn to God and ask WHY?
What if we sought the Lord first and let the Holy Spirit guide us?
"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."
-James 1:5-8
You can see by now that this way of life, this faith, requires having a relationship with God. This is built over time. Investing a lot of time each day in His word and in prayer. Learning to recognize His voice, and equally as important, what ISN'T His voice. Then you will develop faith and trust in the Lord.
Am I encouraging you to quit your job, give up your income, your possessions, your way of life and "live by faith"? Absolutely not. We are all on different paths and God has unique plans for each of us.
Faith, isn't solely how much we trust in God or how much we believe in God. Faith is obedience TO God. Faith comes from hearing the word of God and obeying His voice. Faith requires action.
"What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, 'Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well'—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, 'Some people have faith; others have good deeds.' But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.' You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?"
-James 2:14-20 NLT
This all comes back to seeking the Kingdom of God first in all we do. Pray daily. Seek the Lord. Sit. Be Still. Listen. Build a relationship with Him. Learn to hear His voice. Practice obedience.
"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
-Romans 12:2 NLT
"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."
-Psalm 37:23-24
When we understand God's will for our life, then we can follow the steps he lays out before us.
"Then he said to me, 'This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.'"
-Zechariah 4:6
We can not force things in the Kingdom of God. Nor can we do things in our own strength. We must rely on God and God alone. We can not alter His will for our lives. Sure he may let us go astray for a bit, so we can learn, so He can remove things from us, mold us, craft us into He created us to be, but at the end of the day His perfect will, will be done in our lives.
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