We’ve all been in that situation. We lie awake at night, tossing and turning over tomorrow’s problems. Replaying past scenarios and rehearsing possible futures, as if they depend entirely on us. Our worries leave us feeling clogged and exhausted.
In Matthew 6 Jesus links our anxiety to what we treasure most. He warns us against storing up treasures that cannot last, by making them our ultimate, non-negotiable things in life. Things such as wealth, achievements, or status. Because the more we cling to them, the more we become slaves of our own anxiety. We become ruler and protector of our own little kingdom. We fear never doing, having, or being good enough. We fear others surpassing us.
But Jesus points us to our heavenly Father:
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Mat 6:26)
If He lavishly provides for His creation, how much more for His children?
Jesus doesn’t call us to ‘toughen up and just roll on with it’, but to redirect our heart orientation, our faith. That’s why He follows up by calling us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mat 6:33). It is only then that we can reframe our anxiety to a life sustained by God’s own hands.
Reflection: What worries weigh most heavily on me right now? How can I practice seeking first God’s kingdom—not my own little kingdom—in the middle of them?
This devotion is sent weekly to staff during school terms. It has been lightly edited for a general audience.
Drawn to the Gospel 
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