In Genesis 12, Abram faces a famine in the land that God had promised him and his offspring. His response was to go to Egypt for security in an uncertain circumstance. We might look at this response and think Abram was making a perfectly reasonable plan in the presence of the threat of a lack of provision. We often do the same. We let worry and fear take over our lives in the presence of a threat to our provisions in the world. It's in those times that we need to hear a clear message from Jesus - Trust the Provider more than the provision.
Matthew 6:25 "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?
Jesus tells us that we should not be anxious about what we eat/drink and wear. His argument is that our body and life are more important than our earthly sustenance and clothing. It's not that provision of food and clothes and earthly necessities are a problem, but it is a problem when we see our security in these things more than the Provider of them. God is a God of eternal provision, not just earthly temporary necessities.
At the same time Jesus does call us to be diligent in looking after our needs and the needs of others. Paul even says that if someone is not willing to work, then they shouldn't eat. We need to be serious about provision. And Jesus doesn’t mean that we should deny a healthy concern for others. Paul said he had nobody like Timothy who would be genuinely concerned for the welfare of the Philippians (Phil 2:20). He was pleased with Timothy's concern for others and responsibility in providing needs. Jesus is not contradicting any of these truths in the statements of his sermon in Matthew 6.
Jesus is giving an argument based on something that is much more important. We have a life. We have bodies. But Jesus asks us, “Is not life more than food and your body more than clothing?” God has lovingly created us. So, the argument is that if God gave us a life and body, can’t we put our trust in him as our Creator rather than earthly provisions in and of themselves? (Even the ones we see as necessary.)
The whole point is that this is all a directional issue for our trust. Are you trusting in the God of our life and bodies or the things we need to feed and clothe them? Imagine if Joseph worried most that he might lose access to food and clothing provisions if he didn’t give into Potiphar’s wife. The whole line of Israel to Jesus was at stake. Joseph cared about the God of provision rather than provision itself. What about Daniel who was willing to reject the food of the Babylonians to trust God first.
We could also consider a negative example. What about the faithless Israelites who were so concerned about the provision of food that when God told them only to collect enough manna for one day, they disobeyed him and collected for the next day also. They were putting more trust in manna than the God of manna. The manna they collected in faithlessness ended up being full of worms and was putrid.
God says your life and body is more important to him than the necessary provision for it. Why? Because he is the eternal provider and protector of our life and bodies, not just the temporary one. Therefore, the first question to ask yourself is “Are you trusting provision or the God of provision?”