Anxiety
There is so much to worry about. Does anybody watch the news? It’s an anxiety-inducing mechanism. Here are just a few things that popped up when briefly scanning the news: A major airline cancels hundreds of flights for the second time this week — A sudden surge in home-electricity rates hits midwestern families — Scientists issue a warning about a “once-in-a-hundred-years” solar storm heading our way — A popular toy is recalled after discovery of a choking hazard in toddlers — The stock market tumbles 1,000,000 points (exxaggeration) amid global trade fears — An invasive insect species is found in 12 states and it’s already eating backyard fruit trees — And local hospital visits spike because of a mysterious flu strain no one’s heard of until yesterday — Do you see how anxiety inducing these are? Global fear! Flu no one’s heard of! Toddlers choking! And the list goes on.
In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022.[1] Anxiety continues to rise. It’s in adults and kids. Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation” hit massive popularity partially because everyone realized this, and because parents don’t let their kids play without hovering over them, but they do let them play online without hovering over them (that’s my summary of his thesis).
And through all this noise—through all these constant demands and needs and through all this uncertainty—Jesus says these words: “Do not be anxious.”
The meaning of life matters. (25)
In verse 25, Jesus says, “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.”
That word therefore matters. It connects everything He has just said about treasure and masters. He has told us you cannot serve both God and money, and now He draws the conclusion. Because you belong to God, you don’t have to be consumed by worry and anxiety.
I want you to notice the repetition of the word “life” in verse 25. What is life? We have to ask ourselves that question. It matters how we answer it. It matters how we live out that question. Life is more than food, and it’s more than the body and clothing, Jesus says. We are not, as the materialistic atheist would have you believe, merely flesh and blood, merely a body. We are a body, yes. But we are more than a body. Much more. We have to get this right. When you get the meaning of life mixed up, anxieties will absolutely abound.
Here’s the thing about life. You are body and spirit. There is something more important than this. And by this, I mean the physical—all of this. That is where most of our anxiety starts. We forget what life really is. If you think you are just a body, you will live as if your worth—your existence—depends on what you can feed, clothe, attain, or preserve. But if you understand that you are both body and spirit, created in the image of God for fellowship with Him, then you see life completely differently. You will store up treasures in heaven. You won’t worry about treasures on earth. Everything earthly will pass away.
Jesus isn’t telling us not to eat or drink here though. We are body, though we are more than body. He is saying food and clothing cannot define our lives. We must not live for the stock market or for the ball field or for the praise of people or whatever it is that we’re chasing. John Stott says, “Jesus neither denies nor despises the needs of the body. He made it, He cares for it, and He teaches us to pray for our daily bread. But He refuses to allow them to become our master.”[2]
Here’s the thing: if life equals possessions, you will always fear losing them. If life equals the body, you will always fear death. But if life equals knowing God, you will find peace that nothing can take away.
The atheist says you are only matter in motion. That means every joy fades, every dream ends, and every relationship eventually disappears. Here’s what the famed atheist Richard Dawkins says, from his book “A Darwinian View of”… get this… “Life”:
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”[3]
If that is true, then worry makes perfect sense. Reading that gives me anxiety! And that’s the worldview of the atheist—many in our world who don’t believe in God or who live like He doesn’t exit. But Jesus says life is more. You have a Creator who formed you—a Father who loves you. You have meaning beyond what you can touch or taste.
Meaning does not come from what you control. It comes from who made you. The gospel says you were made for God, broken by sin, and redeemed through Christ. Life has meaning because God gives it. And anxiety begins to die when you know who holds you and who holds your tomorrow.
There is real reason not to worry. (26–30)
Jesus continues in verse 26-29, “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.”
He tells us to look and consider. The birds and the lilies are theology lessons for us. They teach us. They are proof that God provides. We live in a farming community. I don’t know if you knew this or not, but birds don’t farm. They don’t grow food. They don’t even have money to go to Food Lion. Yet every day they have what they need. The same is true for the lilies. These are the wildflowers of the fields in Israel, likely purple anemones. You know what? They don’t have closets or mirrors. They don’t have a credit card or an Amazon account. Yet God clothes them in stunning beauty. If you look at the cover of my book Battles in the Promised Land, that’s the flower I put on the cover. They’re absolutely beautiful.
In verse 30, Jesus says, “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.”
That sounds harsh, but it’s not. It’s tender. Those wildflowers and grass were used for fuel for women’s bread-baking ovens.[4] What Jesus is saying here is, “You can trust Me.” You are of so much more value than all of this. I provide for even those. How much more will I provide for you!
This call to not worry isn’t a call to not work. It isn’t a call to laziness. R. Kent Hughes says, “Birds themselves instinctively make provision for the future… Neither does the example of the birds teach us that if we trust God every day will be smooth sailing.”[5] Birds work, but they don’t worry. D.A. Carson explains, “To worry is to pretend we can alter circumstances when only God rules the world. To keep worrying is to presume to rule it ourselves.”[6] Worry is trying to sit in God’s seat. It is rebellion disguised as responsibility.
Think about how much energy you spend worrying about things that never happen. We call it being prepared, but most of it is unbelief. That’s why Jesus says, “O you of little faith.” Worry is us saying to God, “I don’t trust You to get this right.” Jesus calls that little faith. And the solution isn’t to shame yourself for worrying. It’s to lift your eyes to the Father who feeds birds and dresses fields. And to tell you this: He cares for you so much more than them. You can trust Him.
When you look around and see God’s care, you remember His character. God is faithful. He has never failed His people. Why would He start with you?
God sustains all creation, including you. (31-32)
“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.”
This verse shifts from illustration to worldview. Jesus contrasts two ways of seeing reality. The Gentiles, or unbelievers, live as though there is no Father—no One true God. They run after what they can see because they don’t believe there is anyone unseen to provide for them. There are different ways to view the world, and it affects how we view our circumstances.
This is the view the gentiles Jesus is referring to had. This is view pagans and polytheists have—any view where there are many gods. You can influence those gods. So really, it’s up to you what happens. You can influence the gods and your surroundings and in turn the gods may or may not influence you.
This would be the atheistic worldview. This is the worldview of Darwinian evolution. It’s a closed system. Nothing affects it. It just functions on its own. So you are within it, and you affect your surroundings, so good luck with that. We already read earlier what Richard Dawkins, who believes this is reality, thinks about this system.
This system is very similar but God is at the center. God is within this system, though. He is not outside of it. In a sense it functions very similar to the closed system. Some call this system “open theism.” God created everything but then just lets it run on its own. So in functionality, everything still really depends on you.
This is the biblical system. This is the system seen throughout the entirety of scripture. God created, God sustains, and God directs. God provides, God cares, and God controls. We sing the theology of this system as little kids: “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” This is the only system that is biblically faithful and the only system that functions alongside Jesus’s trinitarian plea to “do not be anxious.”
If you don’t know God, worry makes perfect sense. You should be anxious. You should scramble and grasp and fear what is coming. Because if there is no Father in heaven, then everything really does depend on you. But if there is a Father, then nothing, ultimately depends on you. Only the believer can rest here. Your heavenly Father knows. He knows what you need before you ask. He knows the bills, the diagnosis, the deadline, the heartbreak. And His knowledge is never empty. It is always joined to His care.
God sustains all creation. He is the reason the sun rose this morning and the reason your heart is still beating right now. If God keeps galaxies in orbit, He can hold your life together.
You won’t worry about the future when you are seeking God in the present. (33)
Verse 33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
The verb seek is in the present imperative. That means continual action. Keep seeking. Keep prioritizing. Keep orienting your life around God’s reign.
D.A. Carson writes, “Our part is to avoid consuming worry and to pursue the kingdom of God. God’s part is to provide His children with what they need.”[7] Worry fades when you replace it with pursuit of God. The more you pursue God’s will, the less power anxiety holds.
You cannot seek two kingdoms at once. You will either live for the kingdom of self or the kingdom of God. One breeds anxiety. The other breeds peace. When you are consumed with God’s mission, you stop being controlled by your own situation. When your eyes are fixed on His kingdom, you stop obsessing over your comfort.
Seeking first means more than giving God the first ten minutes of your day. It means surrendering every decision, every plan, every dollar, and every fear to Him. It means living for His glory in your work, your family, your finances, and your future.
You won’t worry about what comes next when you are seeking God right now.
There will be new troubles tomorrow, but there will also be new grace. (34)
Finally we see this in verse 34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus doesn’t say there will be no trouble. He says there will be enough for each day. The point isn’t that life will be easy, but that grace will be enough. D.A. Carson calls this “a pragmatic and wise reason not to worry. After all the theological reasons grounded in God’s compassion and providence, Jesus adds this gift—limit your troubles to today.”[8]
You can’t change yesterday. You can’t control tomorrow. But you can trust God today.
I love what George MacDonald once said, and the visual it gives us: “No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to today’s that the weight is more than a man can bear.” He’s right. You are not built to carry tomorrow. That is God’s job.
Don’t live in the future. Live now. You aren’t meant to carry tomorrow’s troubles today. If there are new troubles tomorrow, there will also be new grace. The mercy that met you today will be fresh again when the sun rises.
Only the Christian can rest without fear of tomorrow. Apart from Christ, you should be anxious, because tomorrow will bring judgment. But through Christ, you can know peace that surpasses understanding.
The truth is, you have not loved God with all your heart. You have chased treasure and trusted yourself. That is sin. That has separated the God who loves you and who has made you to be in relationship with Him. But Jesus came to bear your sin, your worry, and your self-reliance on the cross. He died for anxious sinners and rose from the dead so you could have abundant and eternal life.
If you will turn from your sin and trust in Jesus today, He will forgive you. He will make you a citizen of His kingdom. He will become your righteousness. He will give you life that never ends. Right now, do what Jesus says here: seek Him first. Lay your burdens down. The Father who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies will take care of you. And when tomorrow comes, there will be new troubles, but there will also be new grace. And when eternity comes, there will be no worries, only grace.
[1] https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/annual-poll-adults-express-increasing-anxiousness
[2] John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (IVP Academic, 1978), 91.
[3] Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
[4] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 2014, 62.
[5] R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 113.
[6] D.A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount: An Evangelical Exposition of Matthew 5-7 (Baker Book House, 1978), 83.
[7] Carson, The Sermon on the Mount, 85.
[8] Carson, The Sermon on the Mount, 86.
