Week 6 | See: From Anxiety to Silence

In the prayer Jesus that taught His disciples, He included the request, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The focus of this prayer is trusting that we are secure – that our Father will take care of us again today. This trust is what the enemy attacked in the wilderness temptations of Matthew 4 as he tempted Jesus with the words “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

When the Father proclaimed that He delighted in His Son at Jesus’ baptism, He affirmed His involvement and presence with Jesus. The Father’s delight is His way of saying: “I’m here, I am providing for you, I am actively loving you.” Our temptation, as was the temptation for the people of God in the Old Testament, is to grumble and complain, as we wonder if God will really be there for us. In Philippians 2:12–15, we read, 

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

The emphasis of these verses is trusting that God is at work in our lives. Notice the phrase “… His good pleasure.” It is the same word used in Matthew 3 when the Father used the word “delight.” 

Do you feel God’s delight? Do you sense God leaning toward you with a heart that desires to hold your life – to provide what you need each day? We may not see it with our natural capacities but as we settle into His gaze, we are able to see what He sees, looking through His eyes. As we trust in His presence and provision of what we need, we see the Father at work around us.

In Exodus, God provided for His people’s physical needs on a daily basis by giving them bread (manna, literally means “what is it?”). Each morning, they woke up and the bread was on the ground like frost. They collected the bread and it was their “daily bread.” After they complained once again about the wilderness conditions and asked why they couldn’t have just died in Egypt, the Lord said,

Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. Exodus 16:4

God’s provision is always enough for the need, given one day at a time. God desired relationship with His people so He set up a system for trust to develop and deepen. So, even when our physical eyes tell us something different, we can look at the world through His gaze which leads us to trust. This kind of trusting looks like waiting and watching. In Psalm 123:2 illustrates, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.” The servant waits for the master to move and watches for his mercy to unfold. Trusting that we are secure in Him leads to a trust that He has given and will continue to give us enough. It is a trust that He is at work. 

In His discussion about anxious thoughts, Jesus observed, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30) He invites trust. We might summarize what Jesus taught this way: “You don’t have to be anxious. You can live with an awareness of God with you, delighting in you, taking care of you.” Teresa of Avila echoed this:

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

The heart of what Teresa wrote is that God is enough. If we have God, we have everything we need. We are secure. Pause for a few moments right now and let God’s care for you settle into your mind, your body, and your heart. You might bring to mind something that is fraught with anxious thoughts. Hold that before God in prayer with a heart of waiting and watching. What do you notice? How do you see trust emerge in the waiting?

Prayer: Lord, may I look to Your hand all day today – waiting for You to work out of Your delight in me. Amen.