And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, 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, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. (Luke 12:22-31)
Every person who has followed Jesus for a while knows we aren’t supposed to be anxious. There are several bible verses that get quoted regularly, such as “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6) but it can be hard to just tell yourself to not be anxious and follow through with it. The battle in our minds is strong, especially when it surrounds our basic needs.
Thankfully, Jesus didn’t leave us with only verses 22-23 where He tells us to not be anxious about life, food, and clothing. Jesus graciously gave us the rationale that life is more than those things, but He also gave us examples to consider and help build our faith – consider the ravens and consider the lilies – before telling us what to do instead of being anxious.
Consider the Ravens and Lillies
When we consider the birds, we see they’re not planting food and striving to store up food, yet God feeds them. And when we consider the flowers, their growth is not because of anything they’re working for – yet God clothes them. In comparison to birds and flowers, we are of way more value to our Father. God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers, but He didn’t send His Son to die for them. If our loving Heavenly Father was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son to give you eternal life, then surely He will take care of your basic needs in this fleeting earthly life.
What Does Being Anxious Gain?
Jesus hits on a key aspect to this when He said, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”
Let me ask you this to reflect on for a second: What has anxiety ever done or gained for you? Has anxiety ever made the outcome good? Has anxiety ever changed the circumstance that you’re anxious about? Has anxiety ever bought you more time? Of course anxiety has never done any of those things, right? And here Jesus only asks about the time aspect and then calls adding time to a life a “small thing”.
I don’t know about you, but adding an hour to my life span, although I can’t actually do it, would be a pretty huge thing. However, to the God Who literally created time, Who is outside of time, and Who is completely sovereign over time, it’s a small thing. And that leads us to the real issue at hand with anxiety – trust and control.
Trust and Control
We have the knowledge that God created all things, which includes time itself and us humans. We have the knowledge that God loves us unconditionally and even while we were sinners, He died for us to save our souls. Yet with the basic necessities and small things in life – small, especially in comparison to eternity – we suddenly worry ourselves sick over it.
At the foundation, anxiety is an issue with trusting God and not relinquishing control to Him. We’re so often anxious over things even though anxiety doesn’t actually change anything and despite knowing God is completely capable of working all things for our good, yet for some reason it’s hard for our human minds to relinquish control. **The mind is where the battle must be fought in order to win and that requires taking those anxious thoughts captive and surrendering them to Christ. **
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)
Has anxiety become a stronghold in your life? It’s time to face that battle where it stands in the mind. You have the knowledge of God, so it’s time to destroy the arguments and opinions of anxiety that are raised against the knowledge of God and take those thoughts captive to obey Christ. Remember, if you trust God with your eternal soul, you can indeed trust Him with providing for your basic needs for the years you are here on earth.
Instead
Lastly, Jesus said, Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. This not only tells us what we should be seeking and focusing on, but it’s part of the solution to beating the anxious thoughts.
Step 1: Take anxious thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.
Step 2: Seek His kingdom.
Now, we may have to make a habit of repeating those two steps again and again because so often the thoughts that battle in our mind are not one and done when we first take them captive. BUT THAT’S OK! The victory over anxiety isn’t only the endgame, it’s part of the journey. If you’re filling your mind with seeking His kingdom, anxious thoughts will have a much harder time breaking through to occupy space in your mind. Keep battling any anxious thoughts, taking them captive when they do arise, and instead seek God’s kingdom and trust Him in His sovereignty.