The greatest mental health issues of our day are Depression and Anxiety. They are actually cousins, but how are they related? Depression trips over the past. Grief over what was lost, guilt over what failed, regret over what cannot be undone, anger over what isn’t right or won’t change. Anxiety lunges forward—borrowing terror from tomorrow, projecting catastrophe into a future that hasn’t happened yet.
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. . .”
History Channel has a documentary called “The Men who Built America.” It featured the stories of Daniel Boone, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, Lewis & Clark, Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett (Remember the Alamo), and Kit Carson (total stud), Their lives were nothing like Little House on the Prairie.
They faced extreme starvation and were forced to eat most everything. Their animals, tree bark. They’d boil and chew leather (from their harnesses and moccasins). They’d eat candles (made from animal fat). They faced extreme water deprivation, malnutrition, exposure (hypothermia, frostbite, trench foot) Infections (gangrene), Disease (malaria, cholera, dysentery, typhus). Extreme physical hardship—they didn’t build houses, they built forts—to shield themselves from barbaric violence.
The Daniel Boones & Davey Crockets had more in common with the 1st Century World of Jesus than people in our modern era. If I were a frontier pastor, I’m not sure I’d have the audacity to tell people not to worry about what they would “eat, drink, or wear”, or not “worry about your life.” In Jesus’ day (and less than a century ago) people were one failed harvest, one bad drought, one occupying tax hike away from actual starvation. Jesus’ words weren’t some bumper sticker platitude, “don’t worry, be happy.” These words exposed the jugular of daily living. Tomorrow was a question mark.
Now, we don’t live in ancient times but that doesn’t mean we don’t worry. Last week I went to the Amplify Conference at Wheaton College, and David Kinnaman (with Barna Group) shared their latest research on young people. Guess what? They are filled with a sense of “looming terror… intrinsic fear… about judgement, the end of humanity, cataclysmic global war, nuclear fallout, climate doomism, political and economic collapse, AI takeover, next global pandemic, end-time tribulation…” Terrified about tomorrow. “How will I make a living? Will my generation have a stable future? Is society headed in the right direction? Does getting an education matter? Where do I belong? Who cares about me? Will my parents always be there for me? Is there hope tomorrow? Is there anyone or anything I can really trust?”
Only the topics and categories have changed, not the depth or nature of fear itself. What would Jesus say to “this” modern generation? The first thing Jesus would say is:
(1) Your Life Matters More Than Matter. The Worth Question. Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” A danger of worry is how it distorts our thinking. A single worry can monopolize our attention, hijack our entire life, to the degree that a thing can seem all-important. Worry quickly inverts our sense of value, so that what we eat, drink or wear matters ultimately… and we matter less and less. It’s the false dichotomy of “the body for food, drink, clothing… or food for the body.” Jesus tackles this head on. You matter more! Your life matters most.
In Matthew 6:26 Jesus draws lesson from nature. “Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?” In Jesus’ day people would have said, “Yes, of course I’m worth more than a sparrow…” I’m not sure people agree with that. The other day a guy told it would better if his mother “nature” had made him a hummingbird. I don’t think he really believes that, but he keeps saying it. I’ve told him point blank, “You matter more than matter. The God who made the hummingbird is your Creator. He painted that hummingbird with a dazzling array of color for your pleasure and sheer delight. That same God fashioned you in his very own image (not that of a sparrow or hummingbird)… but his very own image… for his own pleasure and sheer delight. God delights in you as you delight in life.” You have your eye on the sparrow, but God has his eye on you, and the sparrow gets taken care of too.
(2) Your Time and Energy are Irreplaceable. The pragmatic question. Matthew 6:27, “Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?” Jesus calls out the inordinate amount of time we spend, paralyzed by fear, immobilized. Worry squanders the single most precious commodity we have—time. Worry doesn’t add a single second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year to our life. Worry steals the little time and energy we have remaining. Worry also squanders today’s opportunities.
(3) You’re Terrible at Playing God. The reality check. In Matthew 6:26 Jesus said, “Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” What a remarkable statement. God provides. I think of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. God daily provided for manna from heaven, and water from the rock. But he didn’t let them “store up” food and water. Whenever they tried to pocket extra manna, it would spoil. What was God doing? He was teaching they don’t live on bread alone, but on the promises (Word) of God. He Provides!
Then in Matthew 6:28-30 Jesus drops the truth! “And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?”
There is some humor here. Imagine King Solomon, seated in his throne, probably clothed in finest linens, adorned with gold and pearls. I think of the opulent lives of the rich and famous. The Oligarchs. The Saudi Kings. The Trumps. They too sit on golden thrones (toilets). There is artificial beauty but then there is true beauty. God does just fine clothing the grass of the field. No two fields are clothed the same. There is a stunning array of beauty, depth, texture, kaleidoscopic color. Gold and diamonds, human fashion, bores. God dazzles. He gives us everything needed for life, and also for our enjoyment. Leave room for God to razzle and dazzle you, to meet your needs.
Daniel Boone was famously captured by Shawnee War Chief, Blackfish. For months he was held captive before making a daring escape on foot. He ran on foot all the way to his homestead and namesake, Fort Boonesborough. He warned everyone about Blackfish’s impending siege and raced to prepare gunpowder, secure food and water, and reinforce the fort’s timbers. Finally, Blackfish arrived, and laid siege, attacking the fort over the span of days to no avail. Frustrated, Blackfish launched flaming arrows into the dry timbers of the fort, and upon its rooftops. Daniel Boone huddled with his family—there wasn’t enough water to extinguish the flames. But then the clouds rumbled, and heavy rain began falling from the sky, extinguishing the flames.
When we worry we forget God is sovereign over the heavens and earth, over the rain, over every hair on our head. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread.” Who of you if your child asks for fish, gives snake; or bread gives a rock? He causes his sun to rise and the rain to fall on righteous and the unrighteous. God is a good provider—do we leave room for him to be glorified in our circumstances?
I love how direct Jesus is. Matthew 6:31, “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’” Philippians 4 is a masterclass application of Matthew 6:31. Philippians 4:5-7, “. . .The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Friends, God doesn’t just clothe the fields with lilies, God has you covered, and he does it for the purpose of his own Glory.
(4) Make First Things First. Matthew 6:31-32, “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” If depression is about yesterday, and anxiety is about tomorrow, what about today? Well according to Jesus, each day has “enough trouble of its own.” What should our focus be? The alternative to “do not worry” is “seek.” Today is neither a waiting room for tomorrow, nor is it a funeral for yesterday’s regrets, mistakes, sins, and failures.
Today is the only place and time where God actually meets us and offers to meet all our needs. In Lamentations, Jeremiah marveled at how in the most destitute of situations, the Babylonian siege of city of Jerusalem, God renewed his “mercies day by day.” The Lord’s Prayer, “Give us today… our daily bread.” Jesus says seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open, ask and it will be given to you. Each and every day, Today, we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness and he provides.
In the Screwtape letters, Lewis brilliantly reminds us that the present is the point at which time touches eternity. It cannot touch yesterday, nor tomorrow, but it can touch today. If the enemy can keep us agonizing over yesterday’s mistakes (depressed) or bracing for tomorrow’s ambush (anxiety), we will completely miss what God is calling us to see, experience, taste, enjoy, build, love, endure, and obey today.
Today has its own challenges. Yesterday is settled under the blood of Christ. Tomorrow belongs to the providence of God. Today is the altar where faith actually lives.