Be Not Anxious

“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?...Your heavenly Father knows 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.”  -Matthew 6:25, 32b-34 (ESV).

Anxiety seems to be an ever-present condition of mind against which we must guard.  Jesus, knowing this, gave some excellent teaching about how the Christian is to handle anxiety.  If we make the right choices as Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:19-24, there is no need for anxiety.  Jesus gives two examples to help us prevent worry:

            The birds that busily fly about building nests, caring for their young, singing beautiful songs do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but the Heavenly Father provides for them.

            The lilies of the field—or any beautiful wildflowers, for that matter—do not toil or spin, yet even Solomon with all his richness and glory could not compare to the lilies’ beauty.  One has but to see the fields of wildflowers in the Holy Land (or here in our beautiful land), probably spread out on the hillside even as Jesus talked to his disciples, to know the truth of what the Master said.

To be anxious, then, shows a lack of trust in God’s provision.  This does not mean that God wants us to be lazy and expect everything we need to be provided.  But we are to view the needs of life in proper perspective and not worry about or be overly anxious concerning them.  To be anxious demonstrates a lack of trust in God who promises to faithfully provide what we need.  And the formula for placing ourselves in position to receive all this bounty from the Lord is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”  The teachings in the Sermon on the Mount to this point have been helping  us understand what these words mean.  We repeat thoughtfully the Lord’s Prayer (the disciples’ prayer) and we gain insight to seeking the kingdom first.  Hallow and honor God.  We trust God to give us our daily needs.  We are not to be slothful and lazy, but apply the God-given talents we have to earning an honest living and managing what we make according to God’s plan. We are to forgive others even as we are forgiven.  We are to guard against temptations and not yield to them.  And while we go about the tasks of living out our time on earth, we keep the faith and seek to lead others in the way.  And we rid ourselves of anxiety, a negative and defeating attitude.  Someone has aptly stated:  “The average person crucifies himself between two thieves—the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow.”  Anxiety is a no-no for the Christian.  This is not to say that we are not to be concerned about ourselves and those about us.  But there is a difference between concern and anxiety.  Concern seeks and finds solutions; anxiety robs of effectiveness in whatever we do. “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?’ (v. 27).A formula is woven into this teaching of Jesus concerning overcoming anxiety.  First is faith:  We trust God to meet our needs.  Next is the Father—knowing God loves His children and provides for them.  And next  think first:—seek God first, and His righteousness so that He, not we, can be glorified.

How glorious it is not to be anxious but to allow God to work things out.  There’s much truth in the hymn we used to sing frequently:  “Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.”  Anxiety distracts the believer from his intended course, and it accomplishes nothing of value.  I wrote a poem once entitled “One Day at a Time” that goes like this:

            “If we could but the secret find of one day at a time,

            We’d borrow not tomorrow’s fears and neither look behind

            To yesterday’s regrets and tears nor rue today’s firm tread

             But fill life full of love and joy and happiness instead.

             In our concern to push ahead we grab and gulp and pine,

            Not understanding precious peace of one day at a time.

            Lord, grant us patience thus to live and give us grace to find

            The sheer delight of present tense, of one day at a time.