In the last post, we saw that Jesus prohibits His disciples from worrying. However, telling people that they are not to worry is one thing; showing them how to overcome their worry and live in victory over this constant temptation is another. Thankfully, Christ has a plan to defeat our worrying.

Before we continue to look at this plan, there are a few questions that might arise at this point.

We might ask first: what is anxiety from a biblical perspective? Worry and anxiety are manifested in many ways but return to the same root: a concern weighing upon our hearts and minds.

The second question people may have about this issue involves medical conditions of anxiety, not spiritual ones. It’s important to separate medical cases of anxiety from spiritual ones, while also acknowledging that a medical condition may impact our spiritual health. Anxiety can be caused by medical problems, including heart disease, diabetes, thyroid problems, COPD and asthma, medications used to treat problems, chronic pain or IBS, or tumors. In these cases, there is a condition needing medical treatment, not necessarily a spiritual problem.

However, what about anxiety arising independent of these medical problems? Should we treat that anxiety with medication? This question is difficult to answer because we are dealing with a vast range of issues, so there is no one answer to handle every situation. The greatest difficulty here is that there are no real medical tests to determine the existence of a medical problem.

So, does this dilemma mean we shouldn’t ever take anti-anxiety medication or anti-depressants? The answer could be two-fold. First, if taking this medication, do not stop without seeing a biblical counselor for spiritual help, and developing a plan with a physician. Second, if someone is only thinking about starting medical treatment, understand that without the underlying conditions or problems similar to the ones listed above, there may not be a medical problem – and therefore a physical solution might not be needed. Begin by getting biblical help to ensure a spiritual problem isn’t being masked with medication. Read the Psalms to learn how people receive divine victory over their earthly problems. If medication is ultimately the way to go, do so with the agreement of a biblical counselor or church elder, and plan to make this solution as temporary as possible.

Christians often are trapped into thinking that we should never be sad, depressed, or stressed, nor ever battle anxiety. We think every day with Jesus should be better than the previous one. Yet nothing could be further from the truth! Some days are fantastic, and some are dreadful. Such is life in a fallen world with bodies of sinful flesh. If God has us in a trial where we are oppressed with anxiety or depression, then we must endure – not escape. We are called to see God’s blessings as we walk with Him through the valley of the shadow of death.

How, then, do we battle anxiety? What help does Jesus give in this passage from Luke for the good fight against this temptation?

There are six things to know, and we covered four in the previous post. We must know God’s purpose, specifically, what His purpose is not. We should also know that God provides food and clothing, and that worry is pointless.

At the end of these truths, Jesus calls His disciples, “You men of little faith!” (Luke 12:28) Christ is the Great Physician, not only of the body, but the soul. He pierces into the heart of the issue of anxiety and worry, telling us that we fall into this sin because of our small faith. Thankfully, though, He doesn’t say, “You men of no faith.” Jesus knows it is common for sincere believers to fall into anxiety and worry.

However, His words do highlight the shallowness of our trust in God, which is a bitter pill to swallow. It may be insulting to hear that we worry because of our weak faith. Yet, can we admit that when we have been anxious, and God proves Himself faithful, that we have not blushed for our worrisome thoughts and actions? Believers know all too well that Christ often stretches us, bringing a situation that looks more impossible than the last one. In those moments, He asks, “Do you trust me?”

The fifth thing to know as we battle anxiety is that worry is pagan (verses 29-30a).

And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek

Worry characterizes non-Christians and the world. Christ begins with a contrast to separate how believers and unbelievers handle their needs. We are exhorted not to seek our needs, meaning that we should not exert serious effort. Understand that Jesus is not telling us to completely ignore our physical needs, but that we must not be consumed by the affairs of life. We should not start every morning, merely thinking about how we will enrich ourselves and care for our physical needs.

Furthermore, Jesus adds that we must not keep worrying. The word “worrying” here came to be used metaphorically of ships that were being tossed about on high seas and blown off course by the winds – suspended between heaven and earth. When Christians worry, it is like they are suspended between heaven and earth. We know God will provide because He cares, but we continue to get pulled downward and off course toward our worries and anxieties. These cares and concerns are like mighty winds on a stormy sea that blow us away from necessary priorities, trying to pull us into unwanted destinations.

The other contrast from our Lord in this passage is that we shouldn’t seek those things because pagans earnestly, zealously, and tirelessly do for themselves. Enough is never enough for the world. As believers, we know we can become obsessed with money, comfort, safety, ease, and things of this world we leave behind at death. So, if we want to live like a pagan unbeliever, then we should worry about and earnestly seek after temporal things. However, Christians are to be markedly different from the world.

Finally, to successfully wage war against worry, we need to know God’s paternity (verse 30b).

but your Father knows that you need these things.

Here is a phrase that should astonish us: “Your Father.” Jesus presents the profound picture of God’s adoption of us as His children, that He is emphatically our Father. We perhaps often think of God as the Father, and rightly so; but do we also consider Him to be our Father? This phrase takes us back to the Lord’s Prayer, where we meditate on God’s paternity, then see the solution to worry, fear, and anxiety in the request, “Give us each day our daily bread.” We pray, not to a begrudging god who holds us in mild contempt, but to a loving Father who has adopted us as His own. Jesus tells us not to worry about what we will eat or drink, and the Apostle Paul extends that command to all of life, because Christ meant it to be all-encompassing (Philippians 4:6-7).

This truth goes deeper, though. It’s not simply that God is our Father, but that He is our omniscient Father. He knows exactly what we need. Prayer reminds us to be dependent upon God, teaching us not to be like the pagan nations around us that are troubled about many things. God uses prayer to provide for us, not worry. So, if we have the choice between worrying and praying, then pray!

We’re beginning to edge into things needed to wage war on worry to win. We will next uncover how to act once we have this foundation of truth undergirding our faith.