Below is an excerpt from an article I wrote on anxiety from Matthew 6 for ERLC.
Anxiety is a real problem in our society. Working in ministry, I regularly talk to Christians who are struggling with anxiety, and I also spend a lot of time working with leaders trying to help others deal with anxiety in a biblical and healthy way. It seems the problem is ubiquitous. From college campuses and local churches, to marriages and friendships, to coffee shops and businesses, anxiety is everywhere.
In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about our lives (6:25). Describing those words as challenging is a significant understatement. Jesus delivers them in part of his famous Sermon on the Mount. In many ways, his sermon is designed to help us look forward, to help us see what life will be like in the Kingdom of God. There will be a time when our lives and our world are no longer marked by anxiety, as well as anger, unruly sexual desires, deceit, poverty, and other signs of brokenness. Jesus confronts us with those things here. But we would miss much of what Jesus is saying if we simply assume that the things he sets forth in his sermon merely apply to the future.
So how what does he even mean by, “Do not be anxious”?
Read the rest here.
Joshua Wester 