I have been blogging on how to overcome worry and anxiety. The last point I want to make about this issue is God desires to give you exceedingly and abundantly more than those issues which cause worry in your life. Listen to the words of Jesus:

But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:31-32

 

If we allow the wrong things to be “number one” in our lives, they will create an enormous amount of stress, pressure, and anxiety. Our lives will revolve around attaining them. But when we seek the Kingdom of God first…then the Lord Himself is responsible for providing all of our material needs, wants, and desires.

The picture the Lord provides here is that when we seek to put our own needs first we fall into a trap which most of the world and most believers make. Worry and anxiety are born in this snare. The believer’s life is often the very opposite of the direction the world takes and from the direction our basic instincts tell us to take. According to Jesus… we gain our life by loosing it, we lead by serving, and we have our material needs met by not worrying about them, but by seeking the kingdom as a priority. How can this be possible?

A man took his daughter to the carnival. Upon entering, she immediately ran over to a booth and asked for cotton candy. As the attendant handed her a huge ball of it, the father asked, “Sweetheart, are you sure you can eat all of that candy?” 
“Don’t worry, Dad,” she answered. “I’m a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside.”

When the Kingdom of God comes in fullness and we make it first in our lives… we are a whole lot bigger on the inside. Praise God… the Kingdom is always coming and is always available. When we allow the Kingdom of God to grow within us, the bigger we will become on the inside. Our testimony will become the same as the little girl. “I can handle it because I am a lot bigger on the inside.“

In verse thirty-two Jesus really gets to the bottom line, WORRY IS REALLY FEAR! When we fear, we are afraid that the Kingdom is NOT COMING as Jesus promised. God is not going to fulfill His word.

Jesus communicates to His followers that they are to stop being afraid. It is this type of fear that manifests itself in our lives as worry. Worry then is a symptom of fear!

The antidote to fear is faith. Dr. E Stanley Jones explained this many years ago when he said:

I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath—these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely—these are my native air.

 

Blessings,

Pastor