MATTHEW 6:25-34 – “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? 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 which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 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, 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 the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that 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.”

THEME OF THE DAY. THE CURE TO ANXIETY. Each of us are unique in our creation. There are no two of a kind, yet, we do share commonalities. First, we are made in the image of God. All of us. This makes us of extreme value, not because of ourselves but because God made us to reflect Himself (Genesis 1:26-27). And though sin entered the world and marred the image of God in all of us, we still maintain qualities of His image – all of us – that may be restored through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus. Another commonality we share as human beings created in the image of God is the experience Jesus commands us against in today’s scripture. We will find our Lord mentioning it three times through the passage – “Do not be anxious” (Matthew 6:25, 31, 34). Yes, all of us will face anxieties in life. For some, the experiences will be more intense and frequent, but no one is immune. Not only did the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden damage God’s image in us, it also brought about the sin of anxiety in us. Now don’t be upset or a little unnerved about that last statement. Anxiety is a sin. If Jesus commands us, “Don’t be anxious” and any disobedience to any command is sin, then the conclusion, as much as we may not like it, must be that anxiety is sin. But there is hope. Jesus doesn’t leave us on our own to do battle against anxiety. He never leaves us alone to do battle against any sin to include this one.

As we read through today’s scripture, our Lord connects the sin of anxiety with our worry over the cares in life. Things like fretting over provision of food and clothing or what we need to exist. And what person, even Christians, have not laid awake at night, staring at the ceiling, worrying over bills needing to be paid, job security to pay those bills, the financial emergency that just arrived – car repairs, medical bills – or the simple fact there are more days left in the month than money in the checkbook? Yes, there are many sleepless nights gripping Christians and those are not all-night prayer meetings!

So, when the “beast of anxiety” seeks to grip us by the throat and choke out faith in the God who has promised to provide, how do we slay him and loosen his hold on us? Allow me to suggest something we already know but need to be reminded of often. Jesus mentions it twice in today’s scripture. And it is a title our God gladly owns over us, His children. It is a title that will always drive away worry, fretting and anxiety. It is the title of endearment – “Father”, “Heavenly Father.” When life gets tough and anxiety over the cares of our lives starts to creep into our hearts, stop, then pray a prayer of thanksgiving – “Father, I am so thankful You are my Father who has provided for me in the past and promises to provide for me in the present, and future.” This exercise of faith will calm the heart and bring great honor to the God who is faithful; faithful as a good Father able to and willing to meet our every need.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to see the temptations to be anxious are really opportunities to cast my burdens on You.”

QUOTE: “Anxiety may either paralyze us or drive us to the Lord. The choice is ours each time anxiety seeks to rule us.”