I’ve heard verse 33 quoted over and over again, but rarely, if ever, have I heard verse 34 quoted along with it. Usually verse 34 is quoted by itself or not at all.

This chapter in Matthew talks a lot about God’s provision and how our Heavenly Father already knows our needs. Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬ days, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Mammon refers to accumulating wealth, property and possessions but it also includes the root word in it for faith and belief.

It has the root which means “genuine”. The things of this world are simply not genuine, and neither is our pursuit of them. Only God is genuine.

When Jesus was using the word mammon, it was a play on words. By faith and belief we serve God, but it is so easy to be twisted into serving our own self-interests and Jesus understood that.

So worry and anxiety are not genuine no matter how real and important they might seem to us.

They are an emotional response guided by fear, where we actually put our faith in fearful imaginations instead of trusting in God.

Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness is about how we direct our attention in life. Are we intentional about doing what God wants us to do, or are we spending our energies pursuing other things in this world?

While we have to do our jobs and daily tasks to live, do we do them from the standpoint of faith in God, or by our own strength?

Worry and anxiety can paralyze us if we let fear take hold. Fear and faith are not compatible with one another. ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

If we trust God, it is because we do not let fear control us.

When we worry about tomorrow, we miss what God has for us today, and we are not thoughtful about what God did for us yesterday.

Therefore scripture says essentially that “tomorrow will take care of itself”.

We think that if we worry enough about something that we can change it, and yet Jesus told us in Luke 12:25 that we cannot. If we believe the words of Jesus and the promises of God, why don’t we accept that we cannot through worry change something?

If we believe that God is working behind the scenes to provide for the birds and animals, how can we not believe that He will provide for us?

Lastly, the scripture says “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”.

Every day there is evil in this world. It is interesting that evil is mentioned here in connection with worry and anxiety. What if worry and anxiety is working for the cause of evil?

What does worry do?

It brings doubt and fear.

What else does it do?

It takes away our peace and joy.

It takes our focus away from faith and God, and puts our focus on things we cannot change.

It consumes us so that we are neither mindful for what God has done in the past nor what He is doing in the present, nor what He could do in the future.

God didn’t say to just not worry about certain things, He said “take no thought for tomorrow.”

That means that we must trust Him in everything, not just the big worries.

In today’s world filled with fast-paced decisions and instant-everything it may seem difficult to do that, but I still believe it is possible.

When and if you do worry, don’t let it lead you to make poor choices. Ignoring problems won’t make them disappear, so while we sometimes need to take action, let our actions be the right ones—prayerfully considered and guided by discernment.

Whether we worry for nothing or worry for something, it is clear that worry will do nothing good for us.