Overcome worry by knowing your king

Often we worry about finances. Worry comes from an old German word that means to choke or to strangle. Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you very far! Thirty eight parables of Jesus are recorded in the gospels. Sixteen of these parables deal with money. Five hundred verses in the Bible focus on prayer. Five hundred verses focus on faith. Two thousand verses focus on money.

You cannot overcome financial anxiety by having more. They asked John D. Rockefeller, “How much money is enough?” He replied, “Just a little more.” More money does not cure anxiety. Anxiety is cured by knowing the Lord Jesus! The better we know our Shepherd the less we will worry.

A shepherd provides for the sheep. A king is to provide for his people. Jesus always provides for His own! In Mark 8 verses 1 to 9 Jesus fed four thousand men plus women and children. Jesus told His disciples, “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat” (verse 2).

Jesus was ministering in Decapolis. Deca means ten. Polis means city. These ten cities were a Gentile region on the east side of the Jordan River. The people stayed with Him for three days. Their food ran out. They slept on the hard ground for two nights. The Decapolis was a large area with few cities.

Jesus said, “If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance” (verse 3). This event happened in the summer. Israel is not like Alaska. We receive precipitation all year round. In Israel the rain falls in the spring around the time of Passover. Everything turns green. The crops flourish. In the summer, however, the wind comes off the desert. Quickly everything turns brown.

There was no food in this region! Once again it was an impossible situation. Sometimes God puts us in situations beyond our wisdom and beyond our resources to strengthen our faith. His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people (verse 4)?”

“And He was asking them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ And they said, ‘Seven’ (verse 5).” This was the disciples personal food supply. Some disciples would go hungry that night.

Jesus took the seven loaves, multiplied them and fed four thousand men plus women and children. Verse 8 reads, “And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.” The word satisfied means “to be completely full.” It was like a Thanksgiving day feast.

There are two Greek words for basket. This is not the word for a small basket. This refers to a large basket. Sometimes it took two men to carry this type of basket.

Three lessons flow from this event. First, Jesus loves people- even Gentiles. Jesus spent several months ministering to Gentiles.

Second, Jesus provides for His sheep. This miracle should not surprise us. This is what God does every day. Acts 14:17 says, “He (God) did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

God’s provision is abundant on a daily basis. How many salmon will be caught in Alaska this year? Will it be 150,000,000 or 180,000,000? God always provides. Our chickens provide eggs every day. The trees grow. The grass turns green. The moose show up every hunting season!

Third, Jesus is our Bread. In John 6:51 Jesus described Himself as living bread. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also of which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Jesus died on the cross for our sins that we might live. His death provides salvation to all who love Him.

The next time you are tempted to worry about finances, focus on Your King. Jesus provides for all of His children. King David at the end of his life concluded, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). We can trust our Shepherd!

Ethan Hansen is a pastor Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.