“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
Matthew 6:27
I have been through many seasons in my life. Of course, I have been through many summers and winters (Autumn is my favorite), but I am speaking of the seasons of life, such as seasons of difficulty, seasons of abundance, seasons of confidence and seasons of clarity. There have been certain times in my life when I walked in such spiritual assurance that I was able to stand firm against conflict and chaos. And there have been times when a single word from someone has shaken me to my core and knocked the feet out from under me.
To be honest, there was a very difficult season a few years back when I deeply struggled with anxiety and depression. There would be days where I would be paralyzed (mentally and sometimes physically) by anxiety. Stuck in indecision, in physical pain, and completely broken and of no use to myself or my family (or anyone else for that matter). Those were hard days – and I clung to God’s word with everything I had left to survive.
Anxiety was debilitating and seemed to shrink my entire life down to the hopelessness of a single moment.
So as I read Jesus’ words asking the obvious and rhetorical question:
“which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life…”
I know that answer well.
It doesn’t add anything to your life. By worrying about tomorrow, it doesn’t give me another day and it doesn’t give me any quality of life for today. Worrying about tomorrow only make this moment a “life-or-death” moment. And that anxiety makes me an unfit, unequipped, insufficient, incompetent, unqualified savior. I am not suited for that job.
In all my anxiety I have never seen it add to my life. It only takes away.
And there have been plenty of things I have worried about, like my job, my family, finances, my kids, health, relationships, gas shortage, politics…
All that I’ve seen is that anxiety makes me more selfish, fearful, frustrated, cranky…
And I forget the things that are true.
I forget who God is (the equipped, sufficient, competent, qualified, loving Savior)
I forget who I am (a forgiven, redeemed co-heir with Jesus who has been set free)
I forget God’s word (his promises to enjoy, his commands to obey)
I forget who people are (Image Bearers of God, broken by sin, in need of salvation…like me)
I forget who God’s people are (The church whom I should love, serve and be in community with)
LOOK AT THE BIRDS
If you step outside the back door of my house, you will be immediately aware of the sounds of birds singing in the trees. Our street is somewhat of a bird haven, with cardinals, jays, finches, doves and more all living their lives in the trees on our street. You will hear baby birds in their nests getting excited when momma bird comes in with a meal. Before the sun comes up you hear birds outside the window doing their early-bird thing. Sometimes our family just sits and watches the birds as they flit around in our yard. We’ve got two doves nesting somewhere near our house because I see them occasionally on the powerline, and I hear their cuing in the evening.
These beautiful creatures, created by God, are living their lives in full trust of their Creator.
“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?”
Matthew 6:26
The answer is a resounding “Yes!”, and yet Jesus still had to remind us that we can learn a thing or two from creation. Trust your creator to be the creator.
Let go of anxiety.
LOOK AT THE FLOWERS
Spring at our house is filled with planting. It is getting things ready for the garden, but also putting bulbs in the ground, or flowers in pots and baskets. Everyone loves beautiful flowers.
This year, as I stepped outside to survey my yard before the first lawn mowing of the season, I observed how my yard was covered with wildflowers. Beautiful purple, white and yellow flowers that transformed my yard into a meadow. It was so beautiful that my kids begged me not to mow (I did, but I left a bunch of ‘natural’ places for them).
There is something amazing about flowers. They represent everything good about the spiritual life. They start as a seed, they are cultivated by a force outside themselves (sun, water, soil, worms, etc.), and they shoot up and produce their beauty. But they did nothing for themselves. They just “were”. They were completely at the mercy of stronger forces. And yet they take your breath away with their beauty (and with their pollen…if you have allergies like me). And after all of that, they wither and fade, or are cut to put in a vase. Those natural places I left in my yard were dead and gone the following week.
“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?”
Matthew 6:28-30
Consider those flowers. They do not work yet fulfill their purpose. God takes care of the flowers. If we cannot trust him for ourselves, then we have less faith than dandelions.
Anxiety steals our faith. Worry blinds us to the truth.
SEEK FIRST GOD’S KINGDOM
And in all this Jesus knew that we struggle with anxiety and worry. He knew that for so many, our sin nature struggle would manifest itself not in lust or greed or deception…but in worry.
Our sin leads us to remove the Creator from his throne and place ourselves upon it. And this manifests itself in different ways for different people – but regardless of how, our sin is always that we
“exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…”
Romans 1:25
So, Jesus calls us to exchange the lie back for the truth. To worship and serve the creator (God) rather than the creature (ourselves).
And He tells us how to do it.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
Seek God’s kingdom first…before seeking your own kingdom. Seek out the righteousness of God instead of self-righteousness. Then, all these things will be added to you.
If we are seeking God to be king over our lives in each situation then it leaves no room for us. God sits on the throne of his kingdom, and he rules, provides, and judges without rival.
If we are seeking God’s righteousness instead of self-righteousness, then we will find TRUE worth and value in him, and not in the failing attempts of ourselves.
And all these things will be added to you…they will be like company benefits and perks.
BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING
“Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:34
Easier said than done. Especially coming out of the mouth of the God-Man. But it doesn’t make it any less true. So, the responsibility for you and me is to figure out how to apply this in our everyday life – because if we don’t, we will be missing out on the Life Abundant that was promised us…and we will be sinning against our God who says to trust him.
Several years ago, when my oldest daughter was about 6 years old, we were outside doing some yard work, and my daughter found herself in a high place. She could not get down by herself, and it was too far to jump. But it wasn’t too high for me. As I reached up to her, I told her to jump into my arms. The distance between her and my arms was only inches, but she would not jump. I assured her that I would catch her and that I wouldn’t let her fall. Still, she wouldn’t jump. I explained to her how it wasn’t far at all, and that she wouldn’t even experience the sensation of falling. She was crying, she was scared. And though the truth was that I had her and she was safe, she did not believe me because the ground seemed so far away and the fear of falling seemed so real. Eventually I grabbed a ladder and carried her down, but the image is still clear for us.
Though we ‘know’ the truth of who God is, anxiety and worry cause us to not trust him. Even when we know he is there with us, we look at the circumstances around us and we trust what we see more than what is true.
And we must remind ourselves in those times of what is true: do not be anxious. God loves you more than birds and flowers.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:6-9 (emphasis added by me)
As I sit here this evening, fighting that familiar tightness in my chest and tension in the back of my neck because there are things that tempt me to be anxious even today, I commit to thinking on true and honorable things. I commit to think, instead, on pure and lovely things; things that are worthy of praise. And I will practice thinking on these things and dedicating my thoughts and feelings to the God of peace who will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
When you feel that temptation towards anxiety and worry creep in this week,
- Be quick to turn it to prayer. Be quick to turn yourself towards thankfulness. Be quick to shift your thinking to the truth…and then meditate (linger in prayer) there.
- Memorize these scriptures and speak them (out loud) often over yourself and to yourself. Don’t rehearse those imaginary conversation of conflict. Speak God’s word to your soul and remind yourself of what is true.
- Silence the voices that are speaking lies. That might mean turning off the news, putting down your phone, walking away (kindly) from a conversation…or just shutting your own mouth.
- Worship the LORD. It is difficult to worry when you are singing God’s praises.
- Celebrate what God is doing in your life and in the lives of those you love.
- Serve the LORD and others. It is hard to be anxious when you are being the hands and feet of Jesus to someone else.
Let anxiety go. It won’t add anything to your life.
Seek the kingdom, and all these things will be added unto you.
thelifeabundant.org 