Jesus’ Antidotes for Anxiety
I recently had the privilege of sharing a devotional with some dear women at our church as part of a women’s ministry event. I have always found that when I go to write a devotional or a bible study, it works best if I write or study something that I am currently learning or digesting, and that was true again in this case.
For the last few months my husband and I have been in the process of looking for our first home. When we began this journey, I couldn’t imagine how anyone would find the process stressful. The idea of finding a new home together that would be ours, getting to redecorate (and of course, buy some new plants) was all very exciting! That wore off quickly.
We have walked through seemingly countless homes at this point. Many have turned out to look (or even smell) different from what we expected. Some have been sold out from under us before we even had a chance to make a move. There have been lots of detailed discussions and conflict at times about where we really want to live, how much we want to spend, and more. The process has been a grind. I have found myself struggling with a boat load of impatience. I’m often tempted to obsess about looking at listings, worrying that we will miss something or that we won’t get in for a tour fast enough. The search has felt all-consuming.
The Lord has led me several times to read Matthew 6: 25-34, where Jesus addresses worry.
Being someone with a history of struggling through anxiety, I have read this passage many times. But as is often the case, I have read it in isolation. As I was studying this and looking at in context, I started to see it in a different way.
I don’t know that I ever realized that this passage is a part of the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon is all about Jesus telling us how to live as kingdom citizens. Jesus addresses a lot of different areas such as prayer, fasting, possessions, etc. In each section He breaks down for us the many facets of what it looks like to live out Deuteronomy 6:5 :
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Just previous to this section about worry, he explains what it looks like to pray as a kingdom citizen. He teaches us that we start with remembering who God is, then asking that his kingdom be established. It is then that we bring our requests, confession, etc. When we first take time to adore and worship God, the things that we ask for and the state of our sinful hearts are seen in the proper light. The Holy Spirit actually forms our hearts to desire the things that are most valuable in God’s kingdom and leads us to confession of the areas that don’t align with his heart so that he can renew them.
Next he addresses prayer and fasting. The religious leaders of that day simply did these things with a desire for approval by men. True believers have their hearts set on pleasing God and living before His eyes alone. He then moves on to possessions and money, but I believe the same godly principle applies to all three:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
The rewards, the possessions, and the situations that have your sharpest focus reveal where the true treasure of your heart is.
In verses 22 -23, Jesus uses the illustration of (spiritual) eyes:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness. “
I believe that what Jesus is saying here is that what you are focused on, what you are allowing in to your soul as your chief treasure, will ultimately either illuminate the rest of the way that you live – or it will produce darkness.
The specific example he gives here is money – “you cannot serve both God and money”. When God himself and His kingdom ways are not our true treasure, the resulting way of life is not marked by the kingdom values that he desires for us to have.
Interestingly, this is the backdrop against which we can start to understand Jesus’ instruction about worry. The very next word is, ‘therefore’.
“In light of the fact that citizens in my kingdom have their hearts - their true treasure – set on Me and My ways… Do not worry”
I love what the Amplified Version says here: “stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life” (v25).
Just like money, possessions, and the applause of others are idols that can take us away from serving God and from living with a kingdom perspective, worry about our life distracts us and makes us unstable. When we worry, we turn inward and focus on ourselves instead of having the outward focus on others that is part of Christ-likeness.
Can you see yourself in that?
I definitely can! When I am living in a perpetual state of anxiety, it absolutely zaps my energy and spiritual fervor. So much of my emotional energy is used up focusing on my own problems that I don’t even think about other people’s needs, what they might be going through, or how I can bless or serve them. My spiritual eyes are zoomed in as far as they can be! I am not giving any thought to how God might want to use me in the lives of others. I lose track of the broader and more expansive picture of living in His Kingdom.
I think it’s also noteworthy that the end of the section on worry is Matthew 6:33:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
This passage is not minimizing our needs. But Jesus is teaching us to keep them in perspective. One commentator stated that this whole section is about “the right state of the heart with reference to heavenly and earthly things.” [1]It is a matter of our perspective, our focus.
The word ‘first’ here simple means, “before all things, of first importance”. His kingdom is the most important, the biggest priority. A focus on eternal things should shape our perspective of our earthly problems, needs, and concerns.
Isn’t it true that we only seek the things that we believe are of the greatest value? In Matthew 13: 44-45, Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God in a parable. He tells a story of a man who finds out there is a treasure buried in a field, and so he buys it, giving all that he has.
“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
What things do you typically worry the most about? How do they hold up in light of eternity? What do they reveal about the true desires of your heart?
For me this has looked recently like constant surrender – to God’s timing, to His unseen ways, and to his plan. Somehow when I do this, I am able to refocus and see things more clearly. A house is not eternal – it is a tool for God’s kingdom, I remind myself.
How kind and merciful of Jesus, in exhorting us to keep our eyes on the things of the kingdom, to continue and remind us of why we can do so without focus on the worries and concerns in our own lives. He goes a step further and gives us a lesson on the true character of God.
He says, “The pagans run after all these things, but your Heavenly Father knows that you need them” (v32).
Pagans certainly have no future hope and no reason to look to eternity. They also don’t follow the same God that we do. Not even close! We have a God who is a kind and loving Father. He doesn’t just know about our needs and turn a blind eye. He treats us as His children with compassion and He promises to meet them.
Going back to our passage, vs 26 says, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow seed nor reap the harvest or gather the crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
Luke 12:7 also reminds us:
“Are not give sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
God feeds and clothes the animals consistently (and even extravagantly) so that they are alive, well, and flourishing. We are made in His image and are of even greater worth to Him!
We can rest assured that God is good. He does not change His mind or go back on His promises (James 2:16).
It seems that Jesus is encouraging us here to remember when we are tempted to worry that God really is a kind Father. There is no evil in Him (1 John 1:5). He will not give us stones instead of bread when we are hungry! He gives good, abundant gifts to those who ask Him (Matthew 7: 9-11).
Pastor Stephen Altrogge, in his article, Three Words Which Absolutely Destroy Worry shares a very convicting thought:
“Worry is the act of imagining a future without God. When you strip it down to its bones that’s what it really is. I worry when I imagine a future devoid of God. I worry when I project my current feelings and discouragements and struggles into the future. I worry when I take God’s love and faithfulness out of the equation. When I imagine a stark and bleak future, a screaming void in which my faithful and loving Father does not exist or act on my behalf. Underneath all the anxiety and fear and confusing emotions worry is actually a form of atheism. It’s acting as if God does not exist.”[2]
When we worry, our truly functional beliefs about who God is come to the surface! Our faith is tested and we are forced in that moment to take hold of what we know to be factual about His character.
In light of our search for a house, the Lord reminded me recently of the story of Exodus. After coming out of Egypt, it says:
By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” (Ex 13: 21-22)
It struck me in a fresh way that the LORD himself was with them, leading them. These were not just extraordinary weather events. It was HIM. He never left his place in front of them. And so too with us.
Wherever you are today, God wants you to know that he is indeed good, present with you personally, and perfectly sovereign over the circumstances that you find yourself in. Will you choose to believe this with me?
Coaching questions to ponder:
What is consuming your thoughts today? How do these reflect (or not reflect) a ‘right state of the heart about heavenly and early things?
What can you do to cause the focus of your heart to ‘zoom out’ and re-align with the big picture of God’s Kingdom?
Where do you see God present and working in your current circumstance?
[1] Matthew 6 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary (biblehub.com)
