“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? 26 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? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 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? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:25-34
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
What lies are you believing? The core of anxiety is the belief in lies contrary to the truth about you or your situation. This is also known as worry. The underlying Greek word indicates “a dividing of the mind.” It is similar to what James describes as being “double-minded.”
So what is the source of anxiety? It is a divided mind about something important. Sometimes it amounts to believing things about yourself that are untrue. It may be believing something about your future that you don’t know. When the boss calls me into his office next Friday, is he going to fire me? Maybe instead, he is going to announce a promotion. One can become very anxious if they allow themselves to vacillate about things over which they have no control or even knowledge.
In our text above, Jesus is addressing our anxiety about very basic things of life like food and drink and other basics of life. He refers to those who are anxious as being of little faith.
Jesus used the same word when addressing the coming persecution of his followers. “And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are going to say…” The lie here is that maybe God won’t help me in my response to my captors. Perhaps I will be on my own. What did Jesus say? “I will be with you to the end.” He is simply saying, “Believe that.”
To be anxious then is to see problems or challenges as being bigger than our view of God. A great illustration of this from the life of David is the story of killing Goliath. Israel and the Philistines were going to battle but the Philistines suggested that rather than having a bloodbath-battle with many dead on both sides, each nation presents their champion and whoever of the two champions wins the mano-a-mano battle determines the victory of the two nations. That is a good idea, especially when you have a giant as your champion. Israel then became anxious. They saw how big Goliath was and knew of his string of battle victories. Samuel’s army then tried to come to a conclusion as to who would go out and do battle with Goliath. Nobody was interested in going face-to-face with Goliath. Then along came David. He was just a kid. But, he was incensed at this giant causing Israel to kowtow to the Philistines. David walked on the battlefield, took up his little slingshot, and fired a rock straight to the forehead of Goliath felling him to the ground. Then David proceeded to pick up Goliath’s huge sword and cut off Goliath’s head. Boom! Victory for God’s people.
David wasn’t anxious like his fellow Israelites. Why? The Israelite army was looking at how big Goliath was in comparison to them. David was looking at how big God is compared to the puny giant Goliath. The difference was the point of comparison. Are we comparing our problems to how little we are or how big God is? David didn’t start with slaying Goliath. He had earlier experience with God and enemies. With God’s help, David had slain a lion and a bear. David had experience defeating bigger enemies by faith in God. Make sure you are walking by faith now as David did and when you have to deal with a Goliath, your faith should allow you to not be anxious.
Believing lies can cause mental health problems, extreme anxiety being one of them. The solution is to know who you are in Christ and stand in your freedom in Christ. Remember, the very first sin came as a result of a lie. Eve listened to the father of lies and we, the human race, are paying the price. Our enemy doesn’t have any new strategies. Paul said, “we are not ignorant of his devices.” But maybe some of us are. Don’t be. First and foremost, Satan is a liar and deceiver. Believe you are who God says you are in Christ.
You are God’s child John 1:12
You are justified Romans 5:1
You are a member of Christ’s body 1 Corinthians 12:27
You have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit Ephesians 2:18
You have been redeemed and forgiven of all your sins Colossians 1:14
You are free from condemnation Romans 8:1-2
You are free from any condemning charges against you Romans 8:31-34
You cannot be separated from the love of God Romans 8:35-39
You have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit John 15:16
You are God’s temple 1 Corinthians 3:16
You are God’s co-worker 2 Corinthians 6:1
You are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm Ephesians 2:6
You are God’s workmanship Ephesians 2:10
You may approach God with freedom and confidence Ephesians 3:12
And, these are just a few examples of who you are and what you have in Christ. Believe these declarations of Scripture. When Satan whispers in your ear things that are contrary to these declarations from Scripture, don’t listen to him. Walk away and agree with God, not your enemy.
When we are in a place of church leadership and we become anxious about the church, remember, Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The building of God’s church isn’t our job. We are commanded to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded. If we do that, Jesus will build his church. The question is , are we obeying Jesus and making disciples?
When we have lost a job in the midst of COVID-19, Jesus says, Do not be anxious. Why? Because he has promised to take care of us. He compared us to the birds of the air who never seem to be concerned that God won’t feed them. How much more valuable are we? Look to our big God and not to our smallish problems. You say, “My problems aren’t small. I can’t handle them.” Are you comparing your problem to your ability to resolve it or God’s ability to resolve it?
Have faith in God. Find a specific promise in his word that speaks directly to your problem and believe it more than you believe the lies of the enemy.
Make this your prayer.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
Psalm 86:11
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
That last phrase, “unite my heart to fear your name” is translated by the NIV as “give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Ask God to teach you his way to the end that you can walk in his truth (obedience) and do not allow your heart to be divided between loyalty to God and his word and anything else that would challenge his place of Lordship in your life. Fear nothing and no one but God. Then, you will not be anxious because you will not have a divided mind or heart.
