The Devil Wears... Worry

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, friends. [00:00:01] Speaker B: Hey, good morning. [00:00:03] Speaker A: Hey. I'm wondering today. Today's passages are talking about worry. How about you guys? Any. Any worries plaguing your thoughts and hearts right now? [00:00:15] Speaker C: How much time do you have? [00:00:17] Speaker A: Right. I promise we won't turn this into a, you know, full blown therapy session. [00:00:22] Speaker C: I know for me, it has been crazy cold here where we're. Where we are in Michigan last week we had, like, a negative 26. And then, like, I didn't know I got that one, like, negative sex. And the reason I know and care about this is we have, like, goats and chickens at our house. And we have been, like, really nervous for how they're going to do. Like, we went and we bought a whole bunch of hay and, like, fluffed it up and so the goats could, like, nestle down in to keep warm. And then we, like, thought we had one of our goats, like, going into labor. And I'm like, if that baby is born when it's like, negative 20, like, they're going to have to bring it. [00:00:57] Speaker A: It's going to have to be a house birthday. [00:00:59] Speaker B: No. [00:00:59] Speaker C: Yeah. My husband and Bill, no goats in the house. Thankfully, she was not in labor. But we would, like, wake up like, every couple hours at night to, like, go check on them to make sure everybody was, like, surviving the cold and everybody made it. It was fine. God, like, took care of them and gave them little fur coats that, like, could withstand that cold. [00:01:18] Speaker A: But you're such a good goat, Mom. [00:01:21] Speaker C: Never did I ever think every two hours I'd be up with a goat and not a baby. [00:01:25] Speaker A: Yeah. For real. What about your chickens? Do you all make frozen? You don't have frozen chicken? [00:01:29] Speaker C: No. Frozen. Well, in my freezer I do, but not for my actual livestock. [00:01:32] Speaker A: That's good. How about you, Allie? Are you living carefree, worry free? Yeah, girl. [00:01:37] Speaker B: You know, I don't know. I don't worry a lot about things, but I do sometimes. Okay. The other night I was laying in bed, like, the middle of the night, couldn't sleep, and I thought I heard the sound of bees. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Bees. [00:01:52] Speaker B: And I just started to think, like, what if our attic is full of bees? What if we're just like. What if we're just infested with, like, wasps? [00:02:00] Speaker C: We've had that before. [00:02:01] Speaker B: Oh, great houses. [00:02:02] Speaker C: I'm so sorry. This is probably not helping, but they, like, came in, in the fall and built a hive in the side of our house. And we knew that because there was a day I woke up and there was a hundred wasps in my daughter's Nursery. It was bad, but I'm sure that that is not what is happening for you. And you can't put your name on it. [00:02:19] Speaker B: I came here. [00:02:22] Speaker C: This is not helping. I'm so sorry. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Get help with my worry, okay? [00:02:25] Speaker A: No, I'm just kidding. [00:02:26] Speaker C: I can tell you how to handle it. Thank you. [00:02:27] Speaker B: I might be calling you. [00:02:28] Speaker C: It's okay. [00:02:29] Speaker B: Pretty soon we'll see. [00:02:29] Speaker A: I was here. I'm sitting here thinking, like, oh, Allie, come on. Like, it's negative 20 degrees out. How do you think they would be [00:02:36] Speaker B: hibernating right now, but in the spring. [00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. But you. [00:02:40] Speaker C: But that's for tomorrow to worry about, not today. That's for tomorrow. [00:02:43] Speaker B: That's a future me problem. [00:02:44] Speaker A: It is a future me problem. [00:02:45] Speaker B: What about you? Are you worried about anything? [00:02:47] Speaker A: Well, you know, for some reason, I've just been having like, thing after thing happening with my car. I love my car. I have a Nissan Pathfinder. It has four wheel drive and it has heated steering wheel and heated. I do, yeah. [00:02:59] Speaker C: Can you share it? [00:03:00] Speaker A: Hedwig? [00:03:02] Speaker C: I love it because, like I love [00:03:04] Speaker A: in the Harry Potter books, Hedwig is just like this faithful little companion. And I just think of how, you know, our car takes us on all kinds of adventures and playgrounds. I digress. So, yeah, just. Just like silly little car problems like this morning, you know, it's business as usual. Everybody's getting ready to go to school. And Tyler, my sweet husband, knew that because of the colds. My tire. The tire pressure in my front driver side tire was low. And so he tried to fill it and the whole valve came off and everything. He opened the door and now all I hear coming from the garage is. And I'm like. [00:03:41] Speaker C: And when it's not from the air compressor, that's a bad noise. [00:03:45] Speaker A: So my parents. I know, no, it was fine because my parents now, they just moved a year ago down the road from us. And so my. I called them and woke them up and they came and they took us to school and here. And so probably a flashback. All is fine, but. [00:04:00] Speaker B: Okay. [00:04:11] Speaker A: Welcome to the Gospel Threads podcast, where we uncover gospel themes woven through all of scripture and explore what they mean for our lives today. So we're talking about worry a little bit today. And our passage. Our passages are Proverbs 31 and Matthew 6. So Proverbs 31. Let's start there. Friends, we are. We're looking at like the. The Proverbs 31 woman passage, right? Pretty. Pretty famous, slash maybe infamous for some of us. I don't know, I think there's a [00:04:48] Speaker C: lot of feelings that immediately come up when we think of Proverbs 31. I know, for me, like, I immediately was like, are we gonna talk about that? Cause it makes me feel so inadequate. [00:04:57] Speaker A: It feels like this, like, unaccomplishable checklist of perfection that is so hard to. [00:05:03] Speaker B: I'm really glad you said that, because I. I always feel like we look to her as, like, encouragement and inspiration, and I have always felt very intimidated by this woman. She is doing a lot of things well. [00:05:13] Speaker A: So before we read it, maybe can we, like, just talk about the background? Like, who wrote it? Why was they written? Have y' all done any homework on that? I hope you know it. Come on. [00:05:27] Speaker B: Well, the book of Proverbs was mostly written by Solomon, but we have a few other authors at the end, and one of them is King Lemuel. Which is he? [00:05:38] Speaker A: A King of Judah, King of Israel? [00:05:39] Speaker B: Kind of neither. No, he is not one of the recorded kings. Kind of a mysterious figure. Figure. And we know a couple of things about him just from the little intro. He's a mama's boy. Oh, yeah. His mom taught him everything in this chapter. And so this section that we're gonna look at today is in the ESV Bible. It's called the Woman who Fears the Lord. In my older NIV Bible, it's called the Wife of Noble Character. So either way, this is a good passage for us women to look to to learn how we can be of noble character. [00:06:18] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:19] Speaker B: Anything you want to add? [00:06:20] Speaker C: Yeah. And I think when we talk about different books, it's nice to know what type of genre we're looking at. And I know you had alluded to it, but this is like a poem. And one of the things that I did not know until I was studying to talk about this today was that this is actually an acrostic poem. [00:06:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:37] Speaker A: So explain what that means. [00:06:38] Speaker C: Yeah. So I had always read this. Like, this is a list of things that I need to, like, check off or, like, live up to. But really, an acrostic poem is, like, you know how in elementary school, they'd be like, write a poem, and each, like, stanza of the poem would start with a letter from your name. [00:06:54] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:06:54] Speaker C: And so that's what the cross stick is it actually each section of it, and there's 22 of them is going to go through the Hebrew Alphabet. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:02] Speaker C: Which to me was actually very freeing because it's like, this isn't a checklist. This is a general character. This woman is not Doing all of these things all at once. [00:07:13] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:15] Speaker A: So. And when you think about that, this is King Lemuel kind of quoting his mom. Right. His mom's advice for how to, like, what kind of qualities to look for in a woman. This isn't her saying that she needs to be a really good seamstress. Right. That's not a quality of a good [00:07:30] Speaker C: choice woman, which is because I would not be married if you had to be a really good seamstress. [00:07:32] Speaker A: I saw one thing for girl Scouts, and it was pajama pants, and they. The legs were two very different lengths. So, yeah, Tyler was not going to get that in Mia's way. [00:07:42] Speaker B: No, I think you're exactly right, though. I think that's key. When we read this passage, and we're going to read it in a second, and I think that we need to be listening not just for the actions that she's doing, but, like, the character that we see behind her actions. So, for example, it says in here that she plants a vineyard. She buys a field, and she plants a vineyard. That doesn't mean that we need to go buy a field and plant a vineyard. [00:08:02] Speaker A: But I'm also not good at growing things. This would have really been. [00:08:08] Speaker B: You might be in trouble then. Shoot. I'm just kidding. [00:08:11] Speaker A: Okay, Finish your thought. [00:08:11] Speaker B: No, but it does show us that she, like, she's wise with her money. She's been able to manage it and to save, and she's able to make a business decision. And. And then she's not afraid to, like, do some hard work. Like, she's planting the vineyard herself. So we can just. We see that she's wise with her money and she's. She's willing to work hard from that. So those are the things that we want to look for when we read this. I think that helps us. [00:08:34] Speaker A: And then we also want to be tying this in with clothing. Right. Since that is what our season is about. [00:08:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:39] Speaker C: There's actually a lot of clothing in this too. [00:08:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:42] Speaker C: Like, initially, I was like, oh, clothed with strength and dignity is immediate. What came to mind. But then, Ellie, you were sharing, like. But there's so much more to it than that. There's a lot in here, too. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So be listening. Maybe we should count how many references there are to clothing. [00:08:55] Speaker C: Ooh, there you go. [00:08:56] Speaker B: I don't even know. [00:08:57] Speaker A: So, you, listener, you count for us. [00:09:00] Speaker B: Yes. [00:09:00] Speaker A: There we go. [00:09:01] Speaker B: Yes. [00:09:01] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Who wants to read it? I can. Okay, go for it. [00:09:05] Speaker B: Let's read. So picking up in verse 10, an excellent wife who can find she is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts her and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and does not harm all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax. She works with willing hands. She is like the ships of a merchant. She brings food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it with the fruit of her hands. She plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor. She reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her. Many women have done excellently, excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands and let her works. Praise her in the gates. [00:10:57] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:10:58] Speaker B: Did anybody count? [00:11:00] Speaker A: I did not. There was a lot. Okay. [00:11:03] Speaker B: There was a lot. [00:11:04] Speaker A: So do we want to talk about the clothing parts or do we want to talk about the more general? Like, what does this represent? Was it an example of? [00:11:11] Speaker C: Well, I think it's really interesting. As you were reading, I was noticing that the clothing is almost like an imagery and it points out something in her character. [00:11:19] Speaker A: You're right. [00:11:19] Speaker C: Which I think is. It's like a parable built in. Yeah. So, like, you look at the spindle and she's taking the wool and the hard. Well, what does that tell you? It tells you that she's hard working. So I just think this is just really interesting that when you see the clothing, ask yourself, what is this telling you about her character? Because they're. They're intertwined. They're related. [00:11:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:38] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. [00:11:39] Speaker A: I think of too that she's prepared. She's like constantly Preparing. You know, she is not afraid of the snow because she's prepared. She's all of these things that she's doing. The spindle and the distaff. Had to look that up cause didn't know what that word was. But she's preparing so that she has. She has fabric, she has materials to make the clothes for from. So what else did you get, Ellie? [00:12:06] Speaker B: Well, I just. I'm still like feeling a little bit tired when I read this. Like, she's doing so many things and I, like, I think about my day and my like, most productive day can't even compare to this. And she doesn't seem stressed out to me. Like, she's doing all these things and she. I don't know. From what I can tell, she has a good attitude about it. She's laughing at the days to come. She's apparently not super worried. [00:12:29] Speaker C: So nervous about the story. Snow in the negative 26 degree weather. [00:12:32] Speaker B: Super worried about driving back home on those icy roads. [00:12:35] Speaker A: But yeah, honestly, even when I have my most productive days, I'm usually not laughing. I'm usually a little cranky. Yeah, that's impressive and. And feels unattainable. [00:12:44] Speaker B: It does, exactly. [00:12:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So where do we go from here with this passage? [00:12:51] Speaker C: Well, I think to remember that this isn't all happening all the time. Right. Like these. I think our goal when we're reading this is that this can be said. If you look at our entire life, like at our funeral, would these qualities that we're seeing this woman have be true of us? Like, we might not own our own business, but are we doing things that would allow our husband to financially, like have financial security? Or are we using our creativity is maybe a better question with that. Because a lot of times with businesses you're being creative and you can be creative in baking and homemaking. Like, you can. Can do that in so many different ways that I think we need to not put it in a box. Because that's part of why I actually struggle with poetry is I like logical lists. And so when I read this poem, my brain immediately says, this is a checklist. And I'm missing the actual thing that the author is trying to communicate. [00:13:49] Speaker A: Well, that's. With a lot of scriptures, we tend to automatically assume that it's meant to be literal, literally interpreted, instead of literally interpreted meaning through the lens of what genre it is of the poetry that it's not saying specifically, only this. It's. It's saying something much broader, actually using figurative language. Yeah, I think that's. That's really helpful and really good. And I think when you think about maybe what women tend towards, their vices, it might be right. Like shopping. No. Okay. And maybe not always, you know, being. [00:14:32] Speaker C: I don't know. [00:14:33] Speaker B: Being. [00:14:33] Speaker A: I don't know. I think women do work hard. I think generally women work hard, but maybe being more of a shopper than being someone who's thinking strategically about the finances of their family. So I think it's speaking here, too, of like, hey, King Lemuel, like, don't look for a woman who just dressed nice, nicely and is pretty, because that's only gonna last so long. [00:14:54] Speaker C: So I think one of the things it does too, is it really elevates the beauty of being a homemaker. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:01] Speaker C: I don't know if you guys have felt. I have felt in our culture before that if you're not working outside of the house, that you're less than, like, I'll find myself. When somebody asks, what do you do? Oh, I'm just a stay at home mom. And I think when you read this and you actually see what she's doing, it's not just a stay at home mom. It's. I get to be a stay at home mom because it encompasses all of these things. I think sometimes when we work out of the house, you're put into, like a specialization. So, like, you're a doctor or you're an accountant, but really in the home, you're wearing a lot of different hats all at the same time. [00:15:36] Speaker A: Sure. Yeah. [00:15:36] Speaker C: And there's a beauty to that. [00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah, there is. Well, and it even says she is clothed with strength and dignity. Like, there's dignity about doing these things. That's just taking care of her family. Yeah, yeah. So that's good. Should we, like, kind of drill down to just like, the main verse that we wanted to talk about was strength and dignity are her clothing. This is verse 25. And she laughs at the time to come. What do we see? How do we see clothing here? Be a being a picture of the gospel. How do they tie together? [00:16:06] Speaker B: Well, one contrast that I see is in all of the other clothing references. You know, it says she dresses herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. She makes linen garments. She does all these things. She's the one that's making and dressing people like, that's what she's doing. But in this verse, that's not something that she could do on her own. Where she was clothed in strength and dignity that came from somewhere outside of herself. That's where she gets. [00:16:32] Speaker A: She's the Recipient of being clothed. [00:16:35] Speaker B: Exactly. And this is the type of strength. It just doesn't come from within her. It comes from the Lord I love. Psalm 28, verse 8. It says, the Lord is the strength of his people, and he's the one who has filled her with his strength to be able to do all the things that she's doing here. It makes me think of my daughters when they were little. My middle child, she was two and a half years old when we had our youngest, and she was a little mama from day one. She would hold her little sister as much as she could. She would be the one. Like, when she got a little older, she'd be, like, breaking up food for her and entertaining her and trying to change her. And she just loved taking care of her. And I vividly remember pushing the baby in the stroller and my daughter, like, coming up to help push her. She wanted to push her. And she's got her hands up on the stroller bar, and she can't even see over it, but she's pushing that stroller. But of course, I'm right behind there, and I'm also pushing the stroller. And so she's pushing her little sister, but she's using my strength, and I think that's what this woman is doing here. She's got the strength of the Lord enabling her to do all of these things. [00:17:47] Speaker A: That's so good. That's a great illustration, Ali. [00:17:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:53] Speaker A: Do we have application? Like, what is. It still is kind of abstract. Okay. So we know that we don't have to go buy a vineyard. We don't have to be really, like, have a green thumb. We also don't have to be a seamstress. So what. What are we to like to learn from this and to take away? What does it look like to be clothed in strength and dignity? [00:18:12] Speaker B: I think it comes through prayer more than anything. I think that we just. We forget to ask, like, lord, please give me the strength that I need for today to do this thing. Yeah, It's. It's really that simple. [00:18:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:23] Speaker B: And he does. He's so. He's so generous when we just ask. [00:18:28] Speaker A: That's good. Yeah. [00:18:30] Speaker C: I think, too. Giving glory where it's deserved. Right. Like, we're not trying to be this. Proverbs 31. So people would look to us to be like, I want to be just like Cheyenne or Stephanie or Allie. Our goal in this, actually, and even at the end, what is it? What is she striving for? It's a woman who fears the Lord is to Be praised. So ultimately, this isn't about us. It's about the Lord and that we get to reflect his character in the strength. Like what you're saying. He's the one pushing the stroller behind us, that we get to point it back to him and give God all the glory, not try to keep it for ourselves. Which is really hard because it feels good when somebody's like, wow, look at what she did. That's amazing. I wish I could do that. You're constantly fighting against that sin of pride in your heart. [00:19:13] Speaker A: Yeah. So being clothed in strength and dignity is not our own strength and dignity. It's the Lord's strength and dignity, which is a beautiful and freeing gospel truth. [00:19:22] Speaker B: Right. [00:19:22] Speaker C: And better than what we could do. [00:19:24] Speaker A: So much better. Yeah. [00:19:25] Speaker B: And you brought up the fact that we're, like, showing God's strength, like we're reflecting him. And it's the same with the dignity. The dignity is also like his dignity that we get to reflect. So the other. [00:19:38] Speaker A: It's like his glory. Yeah. [00:19:39] Speaker B: The other ways that it's often translated is honor and majesty. [00:19:43] Speaker A: Okay. [00:19:44] Speaker B: The same word that we have here in this passage is used in Psalm 141. And it's used as it says majesty. So listen to this. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty. This is talking about our God's majesty. And now in this verse here in Proverbs 31, like that, Majesty is given to us, and we get to have that to reflect him to the rest of the world. And it's given to us because we're made in the image of God. And that means that every single one of us is inherently valuable. Every single one of us has dignity and worth because we are made in the image of God. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done, we have value in dignity. [00:20:33] Speaker A: That is the best news ever. Because, you know, there are women probably listening to this who maybe they are going through cancer treatments right now. And so they barely have enough. I mean, they're surviving. Right. They're in survival mode of toddlers that they've got four under four, and they are just overwhelmed and again, are kind of just barely surviving. But any stage, any season, you can still be clothed in the Lord's strength and the Lord's dignity that he gives us. Even when we're a mess, we feel like a hot. That hot mess, Mom. Right. And just feel like we're in that survival mode. Yeah, that's so freeing. [00:21:11] Speaker B: And it's that strength and that dignity which gives this woman the ability to smile at the days ahead or laugh at the days to. She's not worried because she knows that God is with her and that she's closed in strength and dignity. [00:21:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that's good news. [00:21:24] Speaker C: And I think it's also interesting that you parrot that she is doing things like, we're not trying to diminish what she's doing, but I think it's helpful to point out, too, that God is providing through her to her family. So, like, what we do, it does matter. Like, she's not just saying, well, snow is coming, but I'm gonna pray that I stay warm. Yes, I'm sure she is saying that prayer, but she's also putting her hands to the spindle and the distaff, working ahead, looking and anticipating. How could God use in the future to bless others? I think that's a really admirable quality that we see in this too. [00:21:55] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so as we were talking about this this week in preparation for recording, we were talking about Proverbs 31. And then Allie, you, I think, paired this. You, like, made a connection between Proverbs 31, she's clothes with strength and dignity, and Matthew 6, which is do not worry about your life. And at first I was like, [00:22:18] Speaker C: please share this connection, because I don't see it. [00:22:20] Speaker A: I mean, this connection's all throughout Scripture. But that wasn't one that I instantly drew a connection to and was like, oh, yeah, I totally know what you mean. But as you talked more, I was like, oh, my goodness. Yeah, this is really cool. So do you wanna share? [00:22:35] Speaker B: Well, the passage in Matthew 6, [00:22:39] Speaker A: I [00:22:40] Speaker B: mean, he tells us not to be anxious about what's to come, not to worry about tomorrow. And I just. I mean, that's what the Proverbs 31 woman is. She's not worrying about tomorrow. She's trusting in the Lord to take care of her today. And not because she has. I mean, she has wealth and she's successful. But this woman, even though she's done a lot of remarkable things, like, she's unfazed by the future because of God's provision in her life. And so that's what Jesus talks about in his Sermon on the Mount here. That's what he wants for us. So do you want to tell us some context? [00:23:13] Speaker C: Yeah. So if we start, like, we're going to, I think, think talk about mainly verses 25 through 34, but when you start looking at verse 25, it says therefore. And one of the things that we hear all the time is when you see. Therefore figure out what it's there for good Bible reading. [00:23:31] Speaker A: Tip. Yes. [00:23:32] Speaker C: Yeah, there. There you go, listener. So when it starts out therefore, I want to give you just a little bit of context to know what is going on. So Jesus, like we said, is on the Sermon on the Mount, and he has just said in verse 19, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where mot and rust destroy, where thieves can break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And so keeping that in mind, he says, therefore I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, about what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body or what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? And you can see Jesus's argument going, what you have here on earth is temporary. It matters. God wants us to be clothed. You saw that in the Garden of Eden, right? Like, God clothed Adam and Eve when they were naked and needed clothing. But also, I think he's teaching us to have a kingdom perspective or having an eternal perspective here too, which I think really does help when you're worrying, like, to have that perspective. And I know these verses are probably familiar to most of us, but let me go ahead and just, if it's okay with you guys, read just a couple of them out of this passage. Yeah, please. Yeah, perfect. Okay. So he says, is the body not more than clothing? But look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And are you not of more value than they? By which of you, by being anxious, will add an hour to the span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 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? And I just think God is so good that he is providing for us. And I don't know, have you guys ever, like, been in a field where there's just wildflowers everywhere? Yeah, And I just think, like, that is such a beautiful image. I know we go golf carting a lot in the summer and we live out in the middle of nowhere and we're going on these dirt roads, and there's this one field that, like, you come up on the road and you're overlooking on both sides of the road and it's just wildflowers all over and it's just so beautiful. And you look at that and you're like, God makes the grass beautiful. And close that how much more does he love me? And I'm created in his image. And it's just this beautiful reminder that God is in control. He loves us and he provides for us. So there's comfort in that, that we can get so much comfort. [00:26:09] Speaker A: And these are the words of Jesus. They are directly to his people. I mean, I love. I just was so struck by how he said, are you not more valuable? Like that is just so, so kind. And so we forget, I don't know, we forget that we can sing Jesus Loves Me all day Long. But do we. Do we really believe that? And I think we quickly forget. [00:26:33] Speaker B: So this passage, it always makes me think of Jordan, my husband, his grandma, she just passed away a few months ago, but she loved gardening and flowers. She was the most gifted gardener I've ever known. She loved birds too. We would sit and watch the birds together at the bird feeder. And she would just watch them for hours. And it brought her so much joy. But she is like the Proverbs 31 woman for sure. And she cross stitched this poem and it's hanging in my in laws kitchen. And I want to read it to you really quick. You might have heard it before. It's written by Elizabeth Cheney. [00:27:08] Speaker A: Cheney. [00:27:09] Speaker B: Cheney. [00:27:10] Speaker A: Cheney. That's my maiden name. Did you know that? [00:27:12] Speaker B: I do know that, yeah. [00:27:14] Speaker A: Okay, continue, continue. I want to hear this poem. Here we go. [00:27:17] Speaker B: Said the robin to the sparrow. I should really like to know why these anxious humans rush around and worry. So said the sparrow to the robin. Friend, I think that it must be. They have no heavenly father such as cares for you and me. [00:27:34] Speaker A: Oh, isn't that beautiful? Yes, I know. That's amazing. I didn't. I've never heard that. Have you heard that? Yeah. [00:27:46] Speaker B: Yeah. It's such a good reminder. And I think like talking about the con, like where this is placed, what you were talking about stuff, it's like towards the end of Jesus's sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:7, and most of the sermon isn't really like light and fluffy and like encouraging. It's so heavy. And Jesus is calling his followers to a lot. Like he's telling them to give up their cloak to anybody who would ask. He's telling them to give up food sometimes, to pray for your enemies, to be kind, to Them. [00:28:23] Speaker A: These are hard callings. [00:28:24] Speaker B: Yeah, these are hard things, like not judging others, forgiving those who have hurt you. Like, it's a lot of really hard things. And then we have this passage in the middle of it where we have this promise that, like, he cares for us and he will give us. He'll give us the strength that we need to do those things and to live out the life that he's called us to. [00:28:41] Speaker C: Well, and I think it's interesting what you were just saying. He's calling them to give away their cloak, which is clothing. And he's saying, give away your clothing and don't be anxious about what you [00:28:50] Speaker A: will wear, because I'm gonna clothe. I will clothe you too. [00:28:52] Speaker B: I will take care of you. Yeah. [00:28:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:56] Speaker B: That's so good. Okay, so our church is doing a Bible reading plan right now. And yesterday was. We had to read Genesis 28 was part of it. Do you guys know, have any idea what happens in Genesis 28? [00:29:10] Speaker A: I did a quick peek and it was. Was it Jacob and Esau? [00:29:13] Speaker C: Yeah, with the hair. He like, deceives him, right? You texted this. And I'm like, I want to know what. Yeah, that means your brain. [00:29:18] Speaker B: 27. [00:29:19] Speaker C: Okay. [00:29:19] Speaker B: And then in 28 is when Jacob flees because his brother Esau is mad at him and wants to kill him. So he's got to run away. And so he's on his way to, like, another family member's house. And that night he stops and he uses a rock as a pillow. So probably not one of the best days for Jacob. He's running away and he's using a rock as a pillow. And he has this dream. And in the dream, God basically reconfirms the covenant that he had made with his grandfather Abraham. He says that I'm going to bless you. I'm going to bless the whole world through you. I'm going to increase your family. And then God says, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. Well, when Jacob wakes up, he says, if, then God will be with me and will keep me in this way, that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear. And then he goes on to set up an altar for God and to give him a portion of his money. And so I just thought it was. It was fascinating. God didn't say anything about giving him food and clothing. He said, I will be with you wherever you go. And it makes me wonder if Jacob on this journey was thinking about, what am I gonna eat tomorrow. [00:30:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:31] Speaker B: Or what about my clothes? Are they gonna wear out? Like. And in his mind, God being with him and caring for him was his daily physical needs of clothing and food. And what was his response was? To worship God for that provision. [00:30:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And this is when Jacob, I mean, in Jacob, Jacob's faith life, he's. He really isn't. Doesn't have a strong connection to God, it seems, at that point. And so that's so neat that like just how God is using that as a turning point for Jacob. So that's cool. [00:31:04] Speaker B: And I'm sorry to completely hijack and go in the opposite direction that we're. No, I think it's beautiful. It was just cool to read that yesterday. [00:31:11] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's really cool. So if it's okay, then I have a question. What, what worries? What, what do you think our listeners are worried about? What do you think women commonly worry about? [00:31:24] Speaker C: Well, I think if I could back up just a second because for us, I think I also was trying to put my play, put myself in the shoes of the listeners of Jesus, like in Matthew 6, because I think we think about clothing very differently than they did back then. And because we have like a mini homestead. Like the algorithms on my social media are like showing me all of that kind of type stuff. And it was showing like to be totally self sufficient in clothing. And there was this like video of somebody like going through the entire process of what they would have had to do back in Bible times of like shearing the wool off the sheep and then taking that. And they had like the. Have you guys ever seen this done? It's fascinating. [00:32:04] Speaker B: Oh, I have. [00:32:04] Speaker A: No. [00:32:05] Speaker C: Okay, so this, this proves the algorithms are just focusing on what I want to see. But like there's these paddles that once the wool is sheared, you have to like take the paddles and you have to get the fibers of the wool all aligned in so you can put it through the spindle and it doesn't tangle. So like there's this entire process of shearing the sheep. Say that 10 times fast. And then you have to like wash the wool because it was really dirty and that was like not with a spigot. Like what we would do, like to think through the process of washing and then it would have to dry and then you'd have to go through the spindle to make the thread. And then to make the yarn, you have to take the thread that you've made and like spin it multiple times together. [00:32:44] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. I'm Tired already. [00:32:46] Speaker C: Okay. It's insane. So let me just share with you, like, big story. One garment that somebody would wear would take six to 10 weeks minimum of constant labor to make because of all these different processes. [00:32:59] Speaker A: Oh, dude, we are. [00:33:01] Speaker C: It's. I mean, doesn't it. Like that means so much. [00:33:04] Speaker A: Kids get holes in their pants and [00:33:05] Speaker C: then to think of, okay, we could just go and buy a patch. They had to like make that patch or buy that patch. And so they didn't have like a Walmart that they could just run and go to. Like, they thought about clothing. Like it was six to 10 weeks of work, constant work. And so I think like learning that just really put it in perspective of how big the ask is to not worry about clothing. [00:33:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:30] Speaker A: Yeah, you're right. That's good. Wow. [00:33:33] Speaker B: I had no idea. [00:33:34] Speaker A: No. [00:33:35] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's a big ask too, to just to say, well, hey, don't worry about whatever you have going on, like, [00:33:40] Speaker C: because everything will helpful. Just don't worry about it. [00:33:43] Speaker A: Like Bob Marley, don't worry, be happy. Yeah. No, but so then what. Yeah, what worry? I mean, they had. They had a lot of worries. They had a lot of work to do in order to just stay clothed and fed. Right, Same. I mean, I'm sure you could go through the same type of thing for the bread. The bread had to be planted and then harvested and then milled. And then, I mean, they didn't have kitchen timers for seeing how long their sourdough was you know, rising or an [00:34:10] Speaker C: oven that they could to exactly the right temperature. [00:34:14] Speaker A: That was. And that's just bread. That's just bread. So, yeah, a lot of time consuming things that to worry about. [00:34:21] Speaker B: But so what about the woman today? What about the woman who is facing a diagnosis or a sick child or whose marriage is falling apart? Like, we can't. It's one thing to just say, oh, don't worry about that, but how do we practically live that out? [00:34:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. [00:34:37] Speaker C: For me, this was the theme verse when we did our first conference on clothing here at Peace Church. And one of the things that made this verse so meaningful for me was that during this conference prep time, my husband John was having significant health issues to the point where we were talking about him potentially, like going on a feeding tube because he couldn't digest food. And we had been focusing on the lilies of the field. And so, like, in your desperation, like, God just gives you those verses sometimes of like, turn to this. And I read and it was clothing and it was food, and I'M just like, okay, God, what do I do with this? Because you are not promising that everybody is going to be clothed, that everybody is going to have food. I mean, I was experiencing that in my life with my husband's struggles. But we also know that all over the world there are Christians who are dying of starvation. So what do I do with this first? God, you're promising to me in this verse to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Is God actually promising me that I'm going to always have food and that I'm going to always have clothing, and if that is the promise, then you broke it, God, like, what do I even do with that? [00:35:51] Speaker A: Right? [00:35:52] Speaker C: And I had to sit and I had to wrestle with that. And that was really hard because when you're like, okay, I know God keeps his promises. So I have to be misunderstanding something in this verse, because I know people starve. I. I know this firsthand. [00:36:10] Speaker A: And you know that it's a real threat to your family, to your husband. [00:36:14] Speaker C: Yeah. And it's a really hard thing. Like, for me, I will use. I'm a very trusting person until something happens and you're just left going, I trusted you. What, what do I do with this now? And with God, we know that he can be trustworthy. And so it's like, well, what do I do with this verse? Yeah, and John Piper is so wise that I remember going to his website and reading an article, and in that article it kind of was talking about, like, well, these Christians starve. What do they do? And he says, well, God is promising that he's going to give you great things to do, exactly what he's called you to do. So this verse isn't actually promising that you're going to have clothing, that you're going to have food. It's promising that I'm going to give you exactly, exactly what you need to glorify me and do what I'm asking you to do. And that's the promise. And at first I'm like, well, but I want the food, I want the clothing. And then you sit and you're like, but what does it matter? And you look back at what Jesus is talking about, and he's saying, don't store up for yourself treasures on earth, because this isn't your ultimate home. Your ultimate home is in heaven. And so, so yes, God is going to clothe us. He's going to food us. And in Revelation, we talk about, like, we're gonna be at a Banquet, feast. Like, the promises that we try to claim sometimes here on Earth are really hard because they're not meant to be fulfilled here. They're meant to be fulfilled in heaven, in eternity. And honestly, like, wouldn't you rather have that for eternity than you would temporarily here? And I don't say that, like, flippantly. Like, that's something that has cost a lot of pain for me to say that. But you keep that eternal perspective in mind, and you're just like, God, I trust you. Like, I love you. This is really hard. But, like, what we were talking earlier, I know you're there with me. You've clothed me in strength and dignity. That's coming from you. You're gonna provide. [00:38:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Wow. [00:38:17] Speaker B: Thank you, Steph. Yeah. [00:38:18] Speaker C: That was long. But that's just. [00:38:19] Speaker B: I know it's been a really hard journey. [00:38:20] Speaker C: It has been. And it's one that continues like, he's in a rough season right now, too. But it's just that verse meant so much to me, actually got a lily tattooed on my forearm because I need the constant reminder that, don't worry, God's got you. And it doesn't mean it's going to be fine, but it means that he's going to be with you. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. That's good. And that helps bring clarity, too, because sometimes I think, especially in light of, like, the Proverbs 31 passage, we can think, oh, I must be doing something wrong. I'm not living up to. You know, this is punishment because I'm not living up to God's standards. And that's why I'm not being clothed or fed or why I'm not seeing God fulfill His promise for me right here and now instead of seeing it in the broader picture of eternity and knowing that God will. Like you said, God will provide what we need for what we are called to right now. Yeah. Which might not be as much as we want, but his promise is to always give us his presence and his care for us and to someday give us abundantly more than we could even ask or imagine. Yeah. [00:39:24] Speaker C: I think it's actually one of the damaging things that's like a product of the prosperity gospel. [00:39:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:30] Speaker C: Because I know, like, through our struggle, we have had people tell us, well, you just need to claim the promise of what God is telling you. And it's like, I am claiming those promises, but they point to something bigger and greater. And so I think there can be a lot of shame and condemnation thrown at somebody. [00:39:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:47] Speaker C: That's like, well, you're not doing Something. And that's why this is happening. And so I just. That is really hard. I think the prosperity gospel is sneaky in that cause it's like, yeah, God does want those things for you, you. But in the timeline. That's his timeline, not ours. [00:40:01] Speaker A: Right, right. This passage, like it actually ends on us seeking something different than clothing and food. And there's a different direction that God even actually is asking us to take. And it says for the Gentiles, meaning in this case, he's talking specifically about unbelievers, that they seek after all these things. They, they're just striving after the best clothes, the best here and new, the best the here and now, treasuring up, you know, storing up those treasures on earth. So they seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But here's what we're to seek. But you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. And I think that that is just so poignant for us, even in our seasons of lack of where we do feel like where's the promise? Like, where's the provision? I don't see it right now to just to trust that he is there, that he will provide, and that our job right now is to seek his kingdom and righteousness. And so I guess that brings me to asking you over these last three. It's been three years. I know, I mean, I know it's been actually much longer than that, but three years since. Since that moment that the Lord kind of took you to this passage. How do you feel like the Lord has shaped you for his kingdom and shaped you to seek his kingdom and righteousness? [00:41:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I think part of it is honestly just kind of sharing our story. I know in Bible study this last week, one of the women was saying that they had a friend who faced this horrendous Circumstance where her 38 week child died before it was born. [00:41:46] Speaker A: Oh no. [00:41:48] Speaker C: And in those moments, she said, I'm trying to walk through with my friend how, like, how do I help her? And she's like, to see this woman's faith of this is horrible. I am grieving for my child. But she goes, this husband and wife are such an example of clinging to the Lord and you're suffering and trusting in Him. And one of the things that she had said was that their friend encouraged them, saying, we can't base tomorrow on the strength that God is giving us to get through today. And I think that's part of the heart of not being anxious. It's. God is gonna be with me tomorrow, and he's gonna give me tomorrow what I need. So I don't even need to look forward to tomorrow. Cause God's already there. And so in these really hard moments, I think you just get to be almost a light in the darkness to where people would look at this couple that's going through this, going, I don't know how I could do that. And if they would have yesterday went, I don't know how I could have done that. Yeah, they're probably right. But God's gonna be there with you. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Yeah. That's beautiful and so, so real. That is such a testimony to all of us. Yeah, right. It does make me think of. So in our Bible reading that we've been doing, we're in Job, so we're doing a little bit of a different. We're doing the chronological. But. And Job at the beginning of it, when he loses everything, he's like, shall we. Shall we thank God just for the good and not also for the bad? Shall we worship him only in the good and not in the bad? And I mean, he's lost all of his children, he's lost all of his livelihood, all of his possessions, everything. And just that example of worshiping does not. It's not easy. I mean, then you see the rest of Job is like him crying out his complaint to the Lord. And that's okay to do, too, to cry out your complaint to the Lord, but ultimately still trusting and leaning on him. That I know you have a plan. Here's sovereign. And so I'm submitting to that. And then the Lord uses that to shape us. Right. I. I know. I have seen it as your friend, how the Lord has shaped you through this really hard season. And that is ultimately. That is ultimately being clothed in strength and dignity. [00:43:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:58] Speaker C: And I love how, like in Romans, when you read. I love Romans 8. Romans 8 has ministered so much to me. And I know it has for you guys too. But part of what it says is what shall separate us from the love of God? Shall naked, shall famine. I mean, those are two things that we just talked about here in Matthew where Jesus is saying, I'm going to provide for you, and he's not. He's promising, I'm never going to leave you. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. [00:44:20] Speaker A: That's so encouraging. [00:44:21] Speaker B: This is all such good hope to bring with us. Such good reminder to just lean into the Lord's strength when. Whenever we're going through these or when we have loved ones going through these situations. And both of those stories, the one of Job and the woman who lost her baby, both of those are such a good example of the last verse that Jesus gives us here in chapter six. He says, therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. [00:44:50] Speaker A: So true. So true. Well, to kind of land the plane here, Steph. Homeschool mom? Do you. You're a homeschool mom, too, but do you have. Do you have some homework for the listeners? [00:45:01] Speaker C: Yeah. So go and get a tattoo on your arm of Lily. Just kidding. You don't have to do it. You can if you want. No, but I just thought, like, just. Is there some type of visual that we could put somewhere in our house? For me, it actually, honestly was a tattoo on my arm. But, like, could you go and get flowers and put them somewhere where you're going to see them? Can you get a beautiful piece of artwork with flowers and put it in your bathroom by your mirror or something? I guess your homework is figure out some type of symbol that would remind you every time you look at it to don't be anxious and trust God, because God is with you everywhere you go. [00:45:39] Speaker A: I love that. That's good. Thanks for that assignment, Stephanie. And thank you all for listening to another episode of Gospel Threads. We'll see you all next.