Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Matthew 6:25-26 NIV
Every cultural study tells us that, though we are a stressed society in general, running through all generations, Millennials and Gen Z members are the most stressed, anxious, and lonely. Statistics exposing the state of mental health, specifically in our nation, say that one in five adolescents experience a mental health disorder at some point in their young lives.
Why is this? Volumes of explanations are given. The pandemic hasn’t helped, though there was already a major problem before Covid. Terrorism, social media, the harsh political environment, the unstable economy and less potential for future jobs, the threat of war, family brokenness – so much. All of them certainly play a role.
But the underlying reason behind the pandemic proportions of anxiety, stress, and lack of freedom even among Christians is that we aren’t consistently following Jesus. When a person follows Jesus and lives like Him, the security, stability, and freedom in his life changes. She trusts the faithfulness of God as Jesus did and knows that He will ultimately care for her. These disciples of Jesus believe that they are so valuable and cared for by God that they have no cause for worry and stress. They don’t feel a need to know everything about their lives and future. They know they are following Jesus, and that is the way to “a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).
Jesus said that anyone who follows Him and pursues His Kingdom first of all will find that everything he needs will be cared for. Paul, one of the early disciples who threw his whole life and future into following Jesus, was a great testifier that God came through for him. He was in the most stressful of situations – hostility, isolation, prison, shipwreck, monetary loss, illness, physical violence. Yet, he said that he learned through Jesus to be content in whatever situation he found himself (Philippians 4:11-13) because God gave him the strength through his relationship with Jesus. He continued to assure others, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NLT). Following Jesus frees us from religion, from stress and anxiety, and it frees us to live with joy and contentment in the Kingdom of God.
- Jesus, help me realize and remember that my stress and anxiety finds relief in truly following You.