Seek The Kingdom

300 Illustrations for Preachers The Big Business of Anxiety

What do you worry about? What is it that makes you anxious? Journalist Eric Sevareid (1912–1992) said, “The biggest business in America is not steel, automobiles, or television. It is the manufacture, refinement, and distribution of anxiety.”

The answer to anxiety, although easier to say than practice, is to replace it with trust. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow.

-Disciples of Jesus must make His Kingdom their first priority. He gives us two instructions:

I. Beware the Foolishness of Anxiety vv. 25-32

Jesus addresses an issue that I believe is relevant to all of us, the anxiety of daily living

Anxiety is a kind of fear or worry that is specifically related to the unknown, things that lie ahead, unseen and uncertain

The answer to anxiety and a fear of the uncertain is a focus on the things that are certain!

Jesus gives us five certainties for our anxieties

The Certainty of the Spiritual Life v. 25

Jesus begins this passage with a call to refocus

It is easy to be dominated by anxiety over our physical needs, the things we will wear, eat, or drink

It is not wrong to make provision for these things or to live carelessly, however we must not be consumed by them

When we do this, we miss out on the fact that our lives have a spiritual and relational reality and we can robbed of enjoying these aspects of life by the pursuit of material

When we give greater thought to our spiritual lives, it will give us rest from the anxiety over the material part

The Certainty of God’s Care v. 26

Next, Jesus reminds us that we are valuable to God

He cares even for the least significant birds. How much more will He care for us?

If we doubt this, we can look to the ultimate provision made for us on the Cross!

Romans 8:31–32

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV)

c. The Certainty of Fruitlessness v. 27

We can be sure that worry never accomplished anything

Anxiety destroys and it never builds up

d. The Certainty of Eternity vv. 28-30

There is a little bit of a long way around this one, but we need to pay attention. God gives good care even to the flowers and the grass, going so far as to make them beautiful. Yet, they are thrown out tomorrow

We can expect much greater care, because we were created for eternity. This is part of what it means to be created in the image of God.

e. The Certainty of God’s Knowledge vv. 31-32

Even people who are far from God are seeking temporary provisions, but we trust that God knows what we need

This is all bound up in an important relationship:

He is our Father and we are His children

We believe that He will provide and will not withhold ultimate good from us

3. As God’s people, we do not have to live with any sense of uncertainty about God’s purpose and care for us!

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" ten Boom (15 April 1892[1] – 15 April 1983) was a Dutch watchmaker and later a Christian writer and public speaker, who worked with her father, Casper ten Boom, her sister Betsie ten Boom and other family members to help many Jewish people escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II by hiding them in her home.

Corrie and Betsie were sent from Scheveningen to Herzogenbusch, a political concentration camp (also known as Kamp Vught), and finally to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, a women's labor camp in Germany. There, they held worship services after the hard days at work by using a Bible that they had managed to smuggle in.[19] Through the two sisters’ teachings and examples of unfailing charity, many of the prisoners there converted to Christianity.[17] While they were imprisoned at Ravensbruck, Betsie and her sister began to discuss plans for founding a place of healing after the war. Betsie's health continued to deteriorate, and she died on 16 December 1944 at the age of 59.[20] Before she died, she told Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still." Twelve days later,[1] Corrie was released. Afterward, she was told that her release was because of a clerical error and that a week later, all the women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

― Corrie ten Boom

II. Pursue the Wisdom of Faith vv. 33-34

Just as there are many things that we do not have to worry about, God has given us a few simple responsibilities.

What should we do as disciples of Jesus?

Seek the Kingdom

We are to live as though Jesus is King, because He is

We pursue a relational connection with Him

We pursue a life in community with His people

We pursue His purpose as the driving force of our lives

Seek His righteousness

Being comes before doing; if we want to live as citizens of the Kingdom, our character should be consistent with His character

Understand clearly, this is not the Kingdom or righteousness; they go hand-in-hand

Trust His provision

When we take responsibility for what He has given us responsibility over, we can trust His provision

He will meet our needs; we can absolutely depend on it

“Depend on it. God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds, and He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so.”

― Hudson Taylor

3. Why should we do it?

This is the simple responsibility that God has given us, no more and no less

When we trust Him for the rest, we can wholeheartedly pursue the responsibility that we do have

George Washington Carver, the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut said: “When I was young, I asked God to tell me the mystery of the universe, but God answered, “That knowledge is reserved for me alone” so I said, “God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.” Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size,’ and He told me.”