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Do Not Worry About Your Life

September Bible Study

In Touch Ministries staff August 31, 2025

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1 ``All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers.

2 ``You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

3 ``He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

4 ``Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

5 ``Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

6 ``Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

7 ``For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;

8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

10 ``When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

11 ``Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today;

12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them,

13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies,

14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

15 ``He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint.

16 ``In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.

17 ``Otherwise, you may say in your heart, `My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'

18 ``But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

19 ``It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.

20 ``Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

12 ``I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, `At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"

13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.

15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ``What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ``It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

16 ``This is what the LORD has commanded, `Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.'"

17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.

18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.

19 Moses said to them, ``Let no man leave any of it until morning."

20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.

21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

23 then he said to them, ``This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning."

24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it.

25 Moses said, ``Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

26 ``Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none."

27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

28 Then the LORD said to Moses, ``How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?

29 ``See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.

15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ``I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, ``It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."

17 So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, ``In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;

18 and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.

19 ``Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

20 and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

21 ``Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

22 ``I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

23 and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;

24 and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, ``Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

26 ``The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.

27 ``The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.

28 ``It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

29 ``Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

30 and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.

31 ``So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.

32 ``Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

33 ``Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

34 ``Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.

35 ``Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh's authority, and let them guard it.

36 ``Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine."

37 Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, ``Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?"

39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ``Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are.

40 ``You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you."

41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ``See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.

43 He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, ``Bow the knee!" And he set him over all the land of Egypt.

44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, `` Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."

45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

47 During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly.

48 So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields.

49 Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.

50 Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.

51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ``For," he said, ``God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."

52 He named the second Ephraim, ``For," he said, ``God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

53 When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end,

54 and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ``Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do."

56 When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Have you ever wondered why God created us with a constant need for the basics of life when He could have designed us not to need anything? What lessons did He want to teach us?

BACKGROUND

Throughout history, anxiety about having enough has been common. Since natural disasters and war can threaten the meeting of basic needs, many cultures—especially agrarian ones—have understood their vulnerability. Yet where food is readily available, we might forget God is our Provider. Even when we repeat the Lord’s prayer and say, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11), do we truly see Him as the only source of each day’s provision?

Illustration by Sarah Cliff

READ

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

REFLECT

This passage is filled with reminders of the great mercies the Lord showed during the wilderness years. But it also makes clear that Israel was required to keep His commandments.

After leaving Egypt, the Israelites were dependent on God’s manna. Yet some still didn’t trust Him (Ex. 16:11-30). They tried to store up manna even though He’d said to gather just one day’s supply; some also failed to collect double before the Sabbath as He had instructed. Despite God’s gracious provision, they doubted Him and even grumbled about the manna (Num. 11:5-6). Is there some tangible blessing in your life that you sometimes fail to appreciate—or perhaps even complain about?
Arrival in the Promised Land presented a faith challenge of another sort. The Lord promised the people abundance if they would obey His commands. But He also warned that this prosperity could lead them to forget Him and become proud, believing their wealth came from their own efforts. How can we keep God’s goodness front and center in our mind when it’s tempting to think ourselves self-sufficient?
Just as the wilderness account teaches that trusting God is essential for daily provision, Scripture also demonstrates how long-term planning requires faith. In Genesis 41:14-57, Joseph was following God’s instructions by collecting food for a nation; other parts of the Bible clearly teach the importance of providing for one’s household. Maybe the true test of faith is in our motivation for storing up for the future: Do you trust that provision ultimately comes from God? Or do you stockpile out of anxiety or greed?

CONTINUING THE STORY

Jesus Himself spoke with His disciples about the fear of scarcity.

Read Luke 12:13-21. Jesus’ parable teaches that no amount of preparation for the future is a guarantee of security. Having enough goods in this life is not the goal; instead, we’re to store up treasure in heaven. Truly believing this promise makes us willing to generously share what we have. Think of a time when you were asked to give. What were your feelings in that moment?
Jesus asks us to have faith in God’s provision, but it’s not a blind faith. Read Luke 12:22-31. The mention of the ravens God feeds and the beautiful lilies He clothes helps us to focus on tangible evidence of divine provision. What is something in your life that helps you understand what has been “added to you”?
God has a way of reshaping our thinking. Consider the idea that the “first will be last; and the last, first” (Matt. 19:30) or that we become great by being a servant (Matt. 20:26). In Luke 12:31-32, Jesus tells us to seek the kingdom even before our daily needs. How does focusing on the larger goal keep our smaller needs in perspective?

REFLECT

Through our bodies, we learn lessons about God, the world, and ourselves.

Having all we need may make us feel safe, but we must remember that true security is found only in the Lord.

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