But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 ESV1
Read Matthew 6:25-34 & Luke 12:22-31
We are anxious about so many things. Worry visits every single one of us. It captures our imaginations. It takes us to extremes. It steals our joy. “Anxiety has become the number one mental health issue in North America. It’s estimated that one-third of the North American adult population experiences anxiety unwellness issues.”2 But does it have to be this way? Is there a Biblical solution to anxiety?
Jesus says, “‘Do not be anxious about your life’” (Matthew 6:25). That is one hard command to follow. Uncertainty, the frantic pace of life, the unpredictability of the future, the heaviness of responsibility, and the uncontrollable nature of so much in life all overwhelm us. Concerns consume the thoughts of all people no matter age, race, gender, ethnicity, or economic status. Yet, “‘which of [us] by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life’” (Matthew 6:27)?
Jesus told us, “’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?’” (Matthew 6:25). Then He gave some practical examples to help us understand what He meant. “’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? … And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 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?’” (Matthew 6:26, 28-30).
Worrying about food, clothing, and shelter seems like a legitimate concern, right. Yet, Jesus had this to say about those worries, “‘O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For … your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all’” (Matthew 6:30-32).
If we don’t fret and worry, gather and store, toil and spin, sow and reap, can we really trust God to come through for us? Look at it this way. God is already taking care of some really huge things about which we should worry—if worrying were an option. Right now, He is providing breath for our lungs. We breathe in and out without even thinking about it. Right now, our hearts are beating. We don’t have to tell them to beat. The sun came up this morning, and it will go down this evening without any of us setting an alarm or mustering our strength.
Think about it, if you suddenly could not catch your breath, you wouldn’t be worried about what you were going to eat next. If your heart just stopped beating, you probably wouldn’t care what you were wearing. If the sun didn’t come up or go down, there would be something drastically wrong with the Earth’s rotation. As we were all spinning off of the Earth into Outer Space, the last thing on our minds would be keeping up with the Jones’. If we trust God with these important matters, can we not trust Him with other concerns?
Jesus gave a solution for worry. “‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus’ prescription for anxiety is for us to be concerned about the things which matter to God.
Our first reaction to such a comment is, “Yes, but …” We want to think about what concerns God, but there are so many things that need our attention first. We feel we will get around to considering the thoughts of God when things settle down a bit. But do things ever settle down?
God’s ways are not our ways (see Isaiah 55:8). Thinking about what God wants first seems backward to us. Yet over and over again, God asks us to acknowledge Him first, and then expect that He will come through for us. Look at the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus instructed us to honor God before we ask for our own needs to be met. The Old Testament Law required that the first of all of the harvest, as well as, all of the firstborn sons, and all of the firstborn among the animals, would either belong to God or should be offered to God (see Exodus 22:29-30; 23:19; 34:26). Check out 1 Kings 17:8-16 for an account of someone who trusted God, and gave the first to Him even when the act didn’t make any logical sense. See how God blessed her and her loved ones beyond measure.
Sometimes, God asks what seems ridiculous to us. But when we obey, He goes above and beyond for us. “‘Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. And thereby put Me to the test, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need’” (Malachi 3:10).
So, if we are supposed to first consider the desires of God, what does God want exactly?
The prophet Micah answered thus when he was asked that question, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
James, the younger brother of Jesus, and a leader in the Early Church informed us, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27).
Jesus was asked, “‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’” He answered, “‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent’” (John 6:28-29).
The Apostle Peter gave this exhortation, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:14-15).
Study the Bible, and you will find many more things that are close to the heart of God. “‘Do to others …’” (Matthew 7:12), “‘Go, therefore and make disciples …’” (Matthew 28:19). “Bear one another’s burdens …” (Galatians 6:2). But beware, before long you could get anxious again! That is because as you have added a bunch more responsibilities to your plate, you have lost touch with what Jesus is saying here.
Remember those birds and lilies in the passage above. They weren’t doing anything; they were just being who God made them to be; God did everything else. Jesus’ solution to anxiety is all about being not doing. “‘I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is who bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing’” (John 15:5).
So, what are your primary concerns? Are they the concerns of God?
Before you answer those questions, consider this. We cannot have the thoughts of God without the help of God. It is one of those things, like everything else, that we cannot do apart from Him. The Apostle Paul said, “‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord …?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). We can seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, because if we are in Christ, He is in us, and we have been given His mind! Amazing.
Anxiety is of almost epidemic proportions among those with whom we rub shoulders. What if Christians could grab hold of and put into practice Jesus’ solution for anxiety? What if that act of faith changed our demeanors, our outlooks, our very lives? Wouldn’t that be a great testimony of the power of the Gospel? Let’s put God to the test, and try His prescription for anxiety. The benefit is greater than just our comfort.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.