Ready-Living for Christ in Times of Crisis

06/05/24 – 06/09/24

Don’t Be Anxious

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  06/07/24

Worry is incompatible with the Christian life.

Read Matthew 6:25-34.

At the root of all anxiety is the fear that we’ll lose something valuable. But no matter how many material possessions we collect or how much money we have in the bank, these things can never bring us peace or contentment. However, when we know that God gave us everything and that it’s all for His glory anyway, we will be at peace. You will be at peace. Why? Because just as God gave it to you, He will multiply it to you. He will multiply it to you so that you can keep on doing the work of God. God is looking for conduits—people through whom His gifts and blessings can flow to others.

You see, fear and faith do not mix. If we’re paying attention to all that the Lord is doing in the world, it’s hard to live in a state of anxiety. The opposite is true as well: It’s impossible to fully trust God’s character, God’s intentions, and God’s promises if we’re living in a constant state of fear.

Jesus showed that worry reveals where we are reluctant to trust God (see v. 26). But God is infinitely trustworthy—the very definition of faithful. Because God is who He is—perfectly loving, just, and sovereign—worry is pointless.

To find peace and contentment we must lose ourselves in obedience to the Lord. Worry comes from focusing on how dangerous this world is. Contentment comes by focusing on proclaiming the goodness of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost. Worry thinks about what we don’t have or what we might lose. Contentment thinks of what we have already and is yet to come—the very presence of God in glory.

Brothers and sisters, God is good. There is peace in His presence, and He wants us to have it. Serenity fills the courts of heaven, and He wants us to have this same peace in our lives. His peace cannot be fabricated, duplicated, or falsified. His peace is above and beyond explanation. Even in the midst of life’s worst storms, He freely offers His peace to all who would receive it.

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me for despairing when life is hard. I know worry doesn’t add anything good to my life, so help me to turn away from fear and instead exercise faith. I know that as I do, I will be filled with Your peace. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27).