One day John Wesley was walking with a troubled man who expressed his doubt as to the goodness of God. He said, “I do not know what I shall do with all this worry and trouble.”
At the same moment Wesley saw a cow looking over a stone wall. “Do you know,” asked Wesley, “why that cow is looking over the wall?”
“No,” said the man who was worried.
Wesley said, “The cow is looking over the wall because she cannot see through it. That is what you must do with your wall of trouble—look over it and avoid it.”
Faith enables us to look past our circumstances and focus on Christ.
Indeed our perspective in life, what we focus our mind on determines how we overcome anxiety.
I remember the period after my mom passed away, I was losing to insomnia and anxiety attacks, I had to turn my digital clock on its face so I would not see the time. It was like a vicious cycle of chicken and egg. I could not sleep then I saw the time ticking away into morning, and I worried that I could not sleep. The more I could not sleep, the more I was anxious. The more anxious I was, the more I could not sleep.
Jesus’ sermon on the mount teaches us some important lessons how to win over anxiety.
There are questions to ask and answers to seek to stop worrying…
Matthew 6
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
(For this reason… what reason? Refer to the passage before this. In vv. 19-24, Jesus talked about wealth and money matters. He knew people often worry about money matters because for many, money does matter.
1) Earthly wealth is temporal – houses rot, cars break down, money stolen. v. 19
2) Value the things that are eternal – treasures in heaven last. They cannot be stolen, and destroyed. Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.. Kind words, good deeds, obeying God’s command to love Him and love our neighbours.. These are priceless with no expiration date. v. 20
3) Where our treasure is, there our heart is also: we pursue what our heart considered as valuable. Where is your heart? What is your treasure? v.21
4) Light and darkness: We see clearly in the light. Do our eyes see the light? Or are we in darkness? v.22-23
5) God or money: which one for you? Choose one only… it cannot be both because if I love money, God becomes second.
So for ‘all of the above’ reason, we should not worry about life: eating and drinking. All these entail money, right? If we worry about these, we are basically worrying about money matters.
Q1: IS NOT LIFE MORE THAN food and the body more than clothing? v. 25b
To ponder: What is life about? Why am I who I am, where I am? What for? What is my purpose for being on earth?
26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
Q2: ARE YOU NOT WORTH MUCH MORE? than what? the birds of the air.. they do not work for their food. How do they live? Our heavenly Father gives them food.
To ponder: What is your worth? Where do you find your worth? In financial security? In social affirmation? In personal achievement? In your doing or in your being? Doing things to please people, striving for recognition? Our worth is in our being – we are the beloved of God. God loves us so much He sent His One and Only Son to save us from eternal death.
27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
Q3: Can you add a single hour to your life by worrying?
To ponder: If I worry, does it make time skip the stuff I fret about? Does it make time go slower to the day I dread for it? Or will worry make it go faster or quicker – make the journey to recovery shorter?
28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
Q4: Why am I worried?
To ponder: When I worry, am I helping God along? Or do I think I can do better – than how He can provide? Solomon was very rich yet the lilies of the field are clothed more gloriously than he was.
Again, how do I compare myself with the grass of the field in God’s eyes? When I worry, is it because I do not trust God to provide for me?
32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Implication: When I worry, I am eagerly seeking the things that Gentiles (those who do not know God) seek. What are these things? Eating, drinking, clothing… again money matters, right?
33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The antidote to worry is to seek God – put Him first – go after the things that matter to Him – His kingdom and His righteousness. How? Find out when you read the Bible – all that He wants for His children are found in His word.
And the promise is that ‘all these things’ – all the things that you worry about needlessly, these will be ‘added’ (implication: added means it’s on top of God’s kingdom and His righteousness.. more than earthly treasures, seek the heavenly treasures.)
Finally, I want to share my favorite verse, my antidote to finding the desires of my heart:
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
To delight in the Lord is to seek after the things that matter to God. Surely when my desires are aligned with his, will he not grant me so much more?
Lord, help me to focus on you when I worry. May your Holy Spirit always remind me that I am precious to you, that you always provide. Enable me to seek your kingdom and your righteousness today and always. Amen.
