Trust Issues: Trusting God as Your Provider- 07/26/26

Matthew 6 puts money on the table, but Jesus is not raising money for a project. Jesus is going after the heart. Money is deeply personal because it touches dreams, fear, bills, kids, retirement, comfort, and control. Money also carries a lot of baggage because religious people have misused it, prosperity preachers have twisted it, and celebrity leaders have built empires off ordinary folks. That failure is real, but that failure does not give genuine faith permission to withhold from God altogether.

Jesus says earthly treasure does not last. Moth, rust, and thieves all tell the same story: what is stored up here can deteriorate, disappear, lose value, get stolen, or get handed to somebody else when life is over. The American dream promises that money will give security, freedom, identity, status, control, and happiness, but that finish line just keeps moving. The raise becomes more spending. The dream house becomes a look at the next house. The emergency fund becomes fear of losing the emergency fund. Money is useful, and money can do good things, but money is a wonderful tool and an awful god.

Jesus says the heart follows the treasure. A bank statement may not tell everything about a person’s spiritual life, but it does give a peek into what is happening inside. The heart says, “God knows my heart,” but Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful. Jesus gives a heart check: where the treasure is, the heart will be also.

Jesus also says the eye must be single, sincere, undivided, and generous. A divided eye tries to look at God’s kingdom and the world’s treasure at the same time, but Jesus says no one can serve two masters. Money becomes a master when it starts deciding what a person values, fears, pursues, and refuses to surrender.

Jesus moves from treasure to worry because the tighter money grips the heart, the more anxious the heart becomes about losing it. The Father knows the bills, the job situation, the medical expenses, the school costs, and the uncertainty of the future. Worry is not responsible planning. Worry is a lack of trust that tries to control all the outcomes.

Jesus does not call generosity the first priority. Jesus says to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and generosity flows from that priority. Grace was never meant to make God’s people less generous. Grace opens the heart, loosens the hands, and says everything belongs to the Lord.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Treasure tells the truth The heart does not always tell the truth about itself, but treasure has a way of giving evidence. Jesus makes finances a spiritual diagnostic, not because money saves anybody, but because money reveals what has captured trust, fear, and desire. A person’s spending, saving, and giving may not tell the whole story, but it tells part of the story that cannot be ignored. [50:14]
• 2. Money makes an awful god Money can meet real needs and accomplish real good, but it cannot bear the weight of the soul. The culture says money will bring security and happiness, but the finish line keeps moving and the appetite keeps growing. Money can be held as a tool, but when it starts giving identity, control, and peace, it has become a master. [48:39]
• 3. Worry imagines God absent Worry asks the future to be lived as if the Father is not there. Jesus does not shame legitimate needs, but he does expose the unbelief that tries to control every outcome. A clenched fist often looks responsible on the outside, while quietly confessing fear on the inside. [66:05]
• 4. Grace opens generous hands Grace does not lower the call of faithfulness. Grace reminds the heart that everything in the hand was first placed there by God. Generosity becomes less about a percentage and more about whether God’s kingdom has become more valuable than protecting a lifestyle. [75:05]
• 5. Kingdom priority creates margin Generosity rarely happens by accident when every dollar has already been spent somewhere else. Seeking first the kingdom means God’s priorities start organizing financial decisions, habits, and sacrifices. A lack of financial discipline can become a spiritual barrier when it leaves no room to obey with joy.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [34:38] - Trusting God as Provider
• [35:08] - Why Money Feels So Personal
• [36:55] - Scandals, Distrust, and No Excuse
• [39:21] - Matthew 6, Money, and the Heart
• [41:42] - Earthly Treasure Does Not Last
• [49:51] - Bank Statements and the Heart
• [52:07] - The Single Eye and Undivided Focus
• [54:39] - God and Money Cannot Both Rule
• [56:58] - Worry Reveals Trust
• [63:43] - Generosity Forces the Faith Question
• [67:04] - Seek First the Kingdom
• [71:20] - Tithing, Grace, and Lifestyle
• [77:32] - How Giving Fuels Mission
• [82:46] - Start Giving Faithfully

Bible Reading

Matthew 6:19-34
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his 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, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” [40:10]

Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” [50:10]

Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” [50:58]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 6:19-21, what are the different things Jesus says can happen to earthly treasure, and what does he connect treasure to in verse 21? [41:42]
2. In Matthew 6:22-24, what pictures does Jesus use to describe a healthy or unhealthy inner life, and what two masters does he name directly? [54:39]
3. What were some specific examples of how money can promise security or satisfaction and yet still leave a person wanting more? [43:20]
4. In Matthew 6:25-34, what everyday worries does Jesus mention, and what examples from creation does he use to point people back to the Father’s care? [57:05]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus says, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Why does Jesus speak this way instead of saying the heart leads and treasure simply follows? What does that reveal about how money can shape love, trust, and desire? [50:22]
2. Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful, and Jesus points to treasure as a way to see what is happening inside. Why is that such an important warning for people who assume they already know their own motives? [50:14]
3. Jesus says no one can serve both God and money. What does it look like for money to act like a master, even when a person would never openly say that money rules their life? [55:17]
4. Jesus moves from money to worry in the same passage. Why are treasure and anxiety so closely connected? How can worry look responsible on the outside while still revealing fear and mistrust underneath? [59:41]

Application questions

1. If treasure tells the truth, what would a real look at spending, saving, and giving reveal right now? What patterns might show joy in God’s kingdom, and what patterns might show fear, comfort, or control? [49:51]
2. Money is a useful tool but an awful god. Where is the strongest pull right now to look to money for peace, identity, status, or control? What makes that pull feel so persuasive? [49:03]
3. Worry often shows up around bills, job security, family needs, retirement, or the future. Which of those pressures feels most personal right now, and how is that pressure shaping financial decisions? [01:00:01]
4. A clenched fist can feel responsible while quietly saying, “What if God does not come through?” Where is there a temptation to hold on tightly instead of trusting the Father’s care? [01:06:05]
5. Seeking first the kingdom means God’s priorities begin to organize real decisions. What would it look like this month for the kingdom of God, not just personal comfort, to shape one budget choice, one purchase, or one financial habit? [01:10:17]
6. Grace opens generous hands. Has grace been making the heart more willing to give, or has lifestyle protection been making the heart more resistant? What helps expose the difference? [01:15:16]
7. Generosity rarely happens by accident. What practical step would help create margin for faithful giving: a plan, a percentage, a conversation at home, cutting something back, or simply beginning consistently? [01:22:46]