January 2, 2025

Matthew 6:25-34   (HCSB)
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “This is why 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? 26 Look at 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?27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn 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? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters 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.

Terri Noah
Worry and anxiety, whew these words are everywhere all the time! Sometimes these feelings can protect us from harm, other times they can steal our joy and prevent us from doing what God is calling us to do. I have a friend who worries about every little thing to the point it is paralyzing at times. It can be the simplest daily decision or major life choices. We all experience these feelings in varying degrees. There is no shortage of advice from society either.  Maybe you have heard things like take a walk, do some deep breathing, have a drink to relax, buy yourself something or have an emotional outburst. Some of these can be helpful when partnered with prayer; others can be very destructive. But Jesus...He gives us the simple answer – “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”. When our eyes are on Him, we are unable to focus our mind on our worries. The more time we spend on daily reading of the Word, prayer, and discovering HIs calling for our life, the quieter our worry and anxiety will become.