ANXIETY

Each day that I watch the news or read about the news it's always something negative. Yesterday I read that 35000 people will lose their jobs from Bank of America. I read that 1500 lost their jobs the day before yesterday. Anxiety is characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency, full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried.

Don't you agree that we have much to be Anxious about today? Anxiety can be damaging to one’s well-being. It can lead to depression, robbing one of strength and the initiative to act. Says the inspired Proverb chapter 12 verse 25: “Anxious care in the heart of a man is what will cause it to bow down.” There can be serious physical manifestations from worry.

Each time I think of the economy and my role in it I worry. I worry that someday I won't have a job. I worry that I won't be able to take care of my kids. I worry about my friends, my brothers, my loved ones. I worry about them. I worry about those that are here and those that are not here.

Then I think of what Jesus said in the book of Matthew chapter 6 verse 25 through 32 where we read and I quote "

On this account I say to you: Stop being anxious about YOUR souls as to what YOU will eat or what YOU will drink, or about YOUR bodies as to what YOU will wear. Does not the soul mean more than food and the body than clothing? Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still YOUR heavenly Father feeds them. Are YOU not worth more than they are? Who of YOU by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span? Also, on the matter of clothing, why are YOU anxious? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I say to YOU that not even Sol′omon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. If, now, God thus clothes the vegetation of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe YOU, YOU with little faith? So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For YOUR heavenly Father knows YOU need all these things" End quote

Jesus concludes this part of his discourse with two pieces of advice. The first: “Keep on, then, seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” The second: “So, never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness.” as found at Matthew 6:33, 34.

Do you think that Jesus was discouraging his disciples, including farmers, from ‘sowing, reaping, or gathering their crops into storehouses’? Or from ‘toiling and spinning’ to get the clothes they needed? Surely not. If they stopped working, they would almost inevitably end up “begging in reaping time,” with nothing to eat or to wear.

Did Jesus mean that anyone could escape anxiety completely? That would be unrealistic. Jesus himself experienced deep emotional distress and anxiety on the night that he was arrested.

Jesus was simply stating a fundamental truth. Undue anxiety will never help you to solve whatever problems you face. It will not, for example, help you to live longer. It will not add one cubit to your life span,.Intense, prolonged anxiety is, in fact, more likely to shorten your life.

His advice was eminently practical. Many of the things we worry about never happen anyway and then we realize that we were worried for nothing. Jesus had much more in mind than his listeners’ physical and emotional well-being. He knew that anxiety about getting the necessities of life, as well as a consuming desire for possessions and pleasures, can crowd out the more important things. What could be more important than getting the necessities of life?’ you may think. The answer is spiritual things having to do with our worship of God. The prime thing in our lives, Jesus stressed, should be to keep on seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

In Jesus’ day, many people were eagerly pursuing material things. Amassing wealth was their foremost priority. Jesus, however, urged his listeners to have a different outlook. As people dedicated to God, their “whole obligation” was to “fear the true God and keep his commandments.” The same applies to us today.

Back then - Preoccupation with material things—the anxiety of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches—could have destroyed his listeners spiritually. Those who are determined to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.

To help them avoid this “snare,” Jesus reminded his followers that their heavenly Father knew they needed all these things. God would provide for them just as he provides for “the birds of heaven.” Instead of allowing anxiety to overwhelm them, they were to do all they could to care for matters and then confidently leave things in Jehovah’s hands.

When Jesus said “tomorrow will look after itself,” he simply meant that we should not allow undue anxiety about what might happen tomorrow add to our problems today. There is a big difference, however, between not worrying unduly about tomorrow and ignoring it completely. Jesus never encouraged his disciples to ignore tomorrow. On the contrary, he urged them to be intensely interested in the future. They should rightly pray for present needs—their daily bread. But first they should pray for things that were yet future—for God’s Kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth.

We should not be like the people of Noah’s day. They were so busy “eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage” that they “took no note” of what was about to happen. With what consequence? “The flood came and swept them all away.” The apostle Peter used that historical event to remind us of the need to live with tomorrow in view. “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,” he wrote, “what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah!” as mentioned in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 5-7, 11, 12.

So what is a person to do? First, do not make a mistake like that of the man whom Jesus described. Find out what God has in store for tomorrow, and build your life around that. God has not left humans in the dark about what he will do.

What will happen in our future will affect the whole earth on an unprecedented scale. Jesus said: “There will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now.” No human can avert that event. Indeed, there is no reason why worshippers would want to avert it. Why? Because this event will rid the earth of all evil, and it will usher in “a new heaven and a new earth,” meaning a new heavenly government and a new earthly society. In that new world, God “will wipe out every tear from people’s eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore as mentioned in Revelation chapter 21 verse 1-4.

While it's ok to worry, don't allow it to rule your life. Keep putting the kingdom first. I do have a special video that I will post that will include Jesse On stage. I hope to have this complete by Monday. Have a great weekend.