Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - 6 Reasons Worrying Doesn't Work | The Gospels | Matthew 6:25–34

Episode Date: October 5, 2026

Can worrying actually change anything? Why are we so tempted to carry tomorrow’s problems today? And what does worry reveal about our trust in God? In today’s episode, Keith explores how Matthew 6:25–34 teaches us to seek God first and receive his grace one day at a time. Want to become a more consistent Bible reader? Download our free Ten Minute Bible Guide and start building a simple, sustainable habit of meeting with God through his word. Grab your guide here. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Matthew 6:25–34

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Worry is one sin that we're okay confessing to others. Now, that's not true of most sins. Most sins we don't like people knowing about. Nobody stands up in a prayer meeting and says, friends, would you pray for me? I've been greedy this week.

But anxiety? Well, we volunteer that. I mean, we even put that in our social media profile or explain our behavior. by saying, look, I'm just an anxious person. Somewhere along the way, anxiety stopped being something we try to change and grow in. Instead, it became like a personality type that we manage. Jesus takes worry more seriously than we do. Everyone has things to worry about. We worry about money and job and health and kids and aging parents and a reputation and weather and politics. We can worry about anything and everything. Before we jump in to see what Jesus has to say about

worry in Matthew 6. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would open up your word to us, that we would see your truth in it, and you would open up our heart, that we would receive your truth, and that your truth would transform us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 6, and worry is mentioned at least three times in the verses that we're going to look at. Three times, Jesus says, do not worry. But he doesn't just say that it moves on. He doesn't give you techniques or say, try harder not to worry.

he gives you reasons you shouldn't worry he doesn't lecture or scold he reasons with us he says look worry just doesn't make any sense so i want to walk you through six reasons jesus says we shouldn't worry and the first reason we shouldn't worry is that life is far bigger than what you're worried about here's jesus in matthew six 25 therefore i tell you do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink or about your body what you will wear is not life more than food and body more than close So Jesus is making an argument from greater to the lesser. God has already given you this enormous gift, a life, a body, a heartbeat. Do you really believe that God who handed you that gift will quibble or withhold the gift bag? I mean, do you see what Jesus is trying to do? He's trying to put

the things that we usually worry about into perspective. It's as if he's saying to you, don't sweat the details. If God gives you life, if he gives you all the big things, you can trust him to give you the things you need for that life. Worry, though, turns all that upside down. It insists that you sweat all the details. So is there something small or relatively small that you have given too big of a place in your life? The second reason you shouldn't worry is that your father already feeds and clothes things that matter far less than you do. Here's Jesus. in verse 26. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Jesus says, look around at the

world God created and learn how He provides for his creatures. If God is willing and able to feed the birds, then He will certainly provide what you need, because you are worth a lot more to him than birds. Here's Jesus again. And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow? They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon and all his wisdom was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothed you, you of little faith? Solomon was the wealthiest man in national memory, and he was outdressed by the grass of the field. If God lavishes his creativity and artistry on the flower, that will only last a matter of a few days,

how much more does God care for his children who will live forever? The third reason to not worry is that it doesn't work. Verse 27, can any of you, by worrying at a single hour to your life? This is a really practical argument. Worry, he says, presents itself as productive as something that responsible people do. Worry calls itself due diligence. It tells you that this is how you love your family. You worry about them.

It tells you that the man lying awake at two in the morning running the numbers in his head is the one who cares most. Jesus quietly asks, what exactly has your worry produced? Worry is motion without movement. It has all the exhaustion of work and none of the output. You will get up tomorrow as tired as if you had done something, but nothing will have actually happened if all you did was worry. Being anxious won't do you any good.

Sometimes we just have to get tough with ourselves. and say, soul, this worrying is absolutely useless. You are not only messing up your day, but you're messing up a lot of other people's day as well. Pray about whatever concerns you, and then leave it with God, and go get on with your work, because anxiety accomplishes nothing productive. The fourth reason you shouldn't worry is because your father already knows what you need. In verses 31 and 32, Jesus says, do not worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that

you need them. Listen to what Jesus calls God here, your Heavenly Father. Notice he doesn't say the Almighty or Providence or the universe. No, he says, your father. The cure Jesus offers for anxiety is not more information about God's power. It is a relationship with God who is your perfect father. When he says the pagans run after things in this world, he's saying they are living like they have no father. They have no one who knows them, no one who loves them, no one who watches over them, which means anxiety is kind of a practical atheism. It's how we live when we have forgotten that God is our father, but when we know that the good God who created all things, the good God who loves us enough to send his son for us, that he is our father who provides and protects us,

us, then we don't need to worry because he knows our needs better than we do. The fifth reason you shouldn't worry is because you were made to chase something bigger. Verse 33, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. See, after saying that the pagans run after all these things, Jesus doesn't say, stop seeking them. He says, seek something better. And when he promises to give you all these things, He is promising to give you all that you need to do is will. So Jesus says, pursue my kingdom, and I will give you everything you need. Maybe not everything you want.

Maybe not everything you think you need, but everything that God knows you need to do what God has called you to do. And then the sixth reason to not worry is because grace comes to us one day at a time. Verse 34, therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, each day has enough trouble of its own. I love that Jesus is not overly optimistic here. He doesn't say, don't worry because tomorrow will be fine. He grants the point that tomorrow has trouble in it.

He just says it's not your trouble yet. And here's why that matters. God gives grace for the day you're actually living in. God never promised you today's strength for tomorrow's trouble. And if you think about it, that's what worry is. You worry about future trouble. Worry is dealing with tomorrow's trouble without tomorrow's grace, and then concluding that you're not strong enough.

Of course you're not. You have not been given the grace to deal with that yet. Exodus 16 tells the story of how God fed Israel in the wilderness. God told them to gather the manna that they needed for today. The one who tried to take more manna than they needed woke up to find that it had gone bad overnight. Not because God was stingy, but because he was teaching them to trust him one day at a time.

Well, God hasn't changed. He's the same father teaching us the same rhythm. It's why a few verses earlier, Jesus says, give us today our daily bread. He doesn't give us our bread for the whole month. No, he gives us what we need one day at a time. So those are six reasons that God says that you shouldn't worry. One, because life is far bigger than what

you're worried about. Two, because your father already feeds and close things that matter less than you. Three, a very practical argument. Worry does not work. Fourth, your father already knows what you need. Fifth, you are made to chase something bigger. And sixth, grace comes one day at a time. Let's pray. Father, we are all worriers. And as much as I hate to admit it, it's because I am not trusting you. I'm not trusting you to give me what I need when I need it. I'm doubting your goodness and I'm doubting your power. So God, we confess that that is sin and we pray for hearts that trust you. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.