Do not be anxious. Jesus says it three times in Matthew 6, and in these verses He does more than teach about anxiety. He counsels us through it. In “Jesus the Counselor” message, Pastor Jonathan continues the Sermon on the Mount series, picking up where Pastor Carey left off in Matthew 6:25-30 and walking through verses 31-34.
He admitted he spent the week preparing this message battling anxiety himself. He opened with a line from one of the Stoics. We suffer more in imagination than we do in reality. Satan wants us living in the past with regret and in the future with anxiety. Christ wants us living in the present and in eternity.
Why Does Money Lead to Anxiety?
Right before this passage, Jesus says you cannot serve God and money. Try to serve both, or let money become your god, and the result is the same. Anxiety. Money itself is not evil. The problem is that it makes us feel safe and in control. Money is a terrible master. Worse than that, it can be a terrible father.
Pastor Jonathan defined anxiety as the tension we feel when something inside of us is afraid of what is happening, what might happen, or what we cannot control. Anxiety is the fruit. Fear is the root. It tries to make us live tomorrow today.
Why Does Jesus Keep Asking Questions?
Anxiety speeds us up. Jesus slows us down with questions. Look at the birds. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your life? Consider the lilies.
Pastor Jonathan called it a public counseling session with the Wonderful Counselor. Jesus wants us to see more than birds and lilies. He wants us to see a heavenly Father who provides for His creation and will provide for those created in His image. Once He has slowed us down, He does what a good counselor does. He diagnoses. O you of little faith. Then He shows us how little faith becomes big faith.
What Are You Actually Anxious About?
In Matthew 6:31, Jesus says do not be anxious again and names the worries. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?
The first step is to name it. That is what the Lord walked Pastor Jonathan through this week. Jonathan, name it. What are you anxious about? Not vaguely. Specifically.
Counseling is only as good as you are honest. Be transparent about what is on your mind and vulnerable about what is on your heart. Be humble enough to say, I am afraid and I need help, Father. Then be teachable and obedient when He answers.
Does Your Father Know What You Need?
The second step is to remember. Verse 32 says the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. They seek. He knows. Do we believe that, or do we think we know better?
His sovereignty is a fatherly sovereignty. Above all, He is compassionate. If we want what is best for our own children, how much more does He?
Big faith does not happen in a day. The Freedom Tower in New York City is 1,776 feet tall. It took years to build, and it stands that high because they dug down deep to the rock. Big faith has to dig deep too, and the rock is Christ.
What Does It Mean to Seek First the Kingdom?
The third step is to seek. Verse 33 says seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Notice who does the adding. The Father does. This is not a coincidence equation.
Anxiety says protect yourself and control the outcome. Jesus says your Father knows, so seek the kingdom, His rule in the hearts of those who willingly submit to the King. Seek the King and you find the kingdom. Seek the King and you find your assignment.
A lot of us stay busy in kingdom work without ever talking to the King. He wants us working with Him, not just for Him. He does not need you. He wants you.
Can You Trust God With Tomorrow?
The fourth step is to trust. Verse 34 says do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Jesus does not lie to us. There will be trouble tomorrow. If a counselor tells you everything will be perfect, Pastor Jonathan said, fire the counselor. The Father promises provision, not control of tomorrow. When tomorrow becomes today, your heavenly Father will still be your Father.
Why Were We Never Meant to Fight Anxiety Alone?
This sermon was preached to a crowd, not an individual. Your faith can only grow so much on your own. When Pastor Jonathan was losing his mom, the texts, calls, and meals from this church family meant his faith did not go down. It went up.
Last month, after 27 years in the military, he was invited to a shipmate’s Navy retirement ceremony, his first time on base in nine months. Getting off the exit on 564, his chest tightened, a migraine hit, and his breathing started acting up. He did not see it coming. He pulled over and prayed. He could have turned around. Instead he thought about his kids, asked what would grow his faith in that moment, and went. He was shaking. At the ceremony he pulled out his journal, and the Lord slowed him down. I am with you always.
Why Is Jesus the Counselor We Need?
Everything Jesus asks of us, He did perfectly. He trusted His Father perfectly, sought His Father’s kingdom perfectly, and died for people of little faith. He is the Counselor of counselors, and because of Him, His Father is our Father.
Would You Like Some Help With That?
Are you anxious right now? Walking alongside each other is what the Church is meant to do. It is not a building with a cross on top. It is a people holding hands, battling anxiety together, looking up to their King.
Plan your visit or find a life group and take that next step with people who will walk with you.