Do Not Worry
By M.T. Clark — P-2108 | 10/30/2026 – Today’s Audio Podcast
Today’s Message on YouTube:
Today’s photo of the sun setting over the Hudson River, with a dramatic driftwood root in the foreground, a tree branch arching in from the left, and the sun shining across the water, comes to us from yours truly, as I captured this view at Papscanee Island Preserve, in Rensselaer, NY, on October 8, 2026.
Well, it’s Friday, thank God, and I share this photo to encourage us all to be spontaneous in our efforts to practice appreciation and to thank God for where He has placed us in life.
The Papscanee Island Preserve is just a short drive north from my house, but until two weeks ago I had never been there before. I had seen the sign plenty of times on my workday commute, but in the 6 years that I have been going up and down State Route 9J, I never really felt the urge to check it out. But lately, I realized that my time down by the River is slowly fading away as I plan to make the permanent move north to be with TammyLyn in Glens Falls next year. And while the current plan is to sell my house to my daughter Haley, after I move, I know I won’t be traveling on State Route 9J any time soon. The commutes along the river will be a thing of the past, and the opportunity to make impromptu visits to the nature preserves and parks in my local area will be gone.
So, two weeks ago I decided to turn down a road I had never been down before, and I walked some trails I had never set foot on, and I was rewarded with a sunset view on the shores of the Hudson. I rejoiced over the new experience and the beauty of God’s creation and thanked the Lord for the life that He has given me and for the place He has put me.
The Lord has been kind to put us where He puts us. Every stretch of water, every stand of trees, every neighborhood road is a gift He has given us for a season. When the season changes, those gifts stay where He put them, and we go on to the next place where He has arranged something new for us. We should not look at these transitions as losses, but as the way God is moving us through our lives.
So, if there is a place or a season you have been taking for granted, go see it one more time while it is still yours. Break the pattern of your normal routine and take a spontaneous trip to the places that you haven’t gone to or haven’t been to in a while. Go out and walk that road, visit that river, or sit on that porch one more time. Thank the Lord for life He has given you and the place He has put you, and trust that He will be with you wherever you go. Speaking of trusting God for what is ahead…
Our series “The Beatitudes” continues today with the natural follow-up to what Jesus just taught about serving one Master. If God is our Master, we do not need to worry. Jesus wants us to teach us about how God the Father cares for His children.
Do Not Worry
Jesus opens the next section with the word “therefore.” He is tying what He is about to say to what He just said. If we cannot serve God and mammon, and if we have chosen God as our Master, we don’t need to carry the burden of our own survival anymore. In Matthew 6:25-30 (NKJV), Jesus tells us:
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
Jesus names the specific worries that most people spend their energy on: food, drink, and clothing. These are not trivial matters. They are the survival worries that have driven human beings to work themselves to the bone throughout history. Jesus is not dismissing them. He is reframing them. Life is more than food. The body is more than clothing. The point of being alive is not to spend all our energy on survival. The point of life is to spend it walking with the One who gave us life in the first place.
Then Jesus gives us the first example of the Lord’s care for His creatures. He tells us to look at the birds of the air. They do not sow, they do not reap, and they do not gather into barns, and yet our Heavenly Father feeds them. The point here is not that we are supposed to stop working. The point is that the God who feeds the birds every day is the same God who is watching over us. If He takes care of birds every day, how much more will He take care of His own children, whom He loved enough to send His Son to die for?
Jesus then asks the question that challenges the wisdom of worrying: “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” None of us. Worrying doesn’t add anything to our lives. It doesn’t add inches, hours, or security. All worry does is rob us of our peace. The time we spend worrying about tomorrow is time we are not spending walking with the Lord today, who already knows about tomorrow and has it under His control.
Jesus then shares a second example with the lilies of the field. They do not toil or spin to make themselves beautiful. And yet, Jesus says, even Solomon in all his royal glory was not dressed as well as a single wildflower. The Lord dresses the grass of the field with more beauty than any king could pay his tailors to create. How much more will He take care of His own children, whom He made in His image and bought with His own Son’s life?
Jesus closes with the heart of the matter. “O you of little faith.” The issue is not provision. God is THE Provider. The issue is faith. Will we trust Him with our tomorrow? He has already shown us that He feeds the birds and clothes the lilies. Through Christ dying for us, God has already shown us how much He values us. The question is whether we are going to trust Him with our daily provision or try to carry it by our own strength as if we were in charge of our own survival.
Jesus is encouraging us to let go of our worries and to trust God with our lives. He’s not telling us that we shouldn’t be responsible for feeding and clothing ourselves with what God provides, but He is telling us that we don’t have to live in fear. He uses nature to point to God and to give us an insight that reveals how God’s love is demonstrated throughout His created order and implores us to consider that God will lovingly provide for us, too.
So, stop worrying about tomorrow and trust the Lord to help you to not only find the things you need to live, but that He will give you all these things and more when we live in His peace and enjoy His rest.
Every step we take toward the Lord is a step in the right direction. So, keep on walking and talking with God.
— M.T.
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
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