The Root Of Anxiety Is Unbelief

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. -Matthew 6:25–34

In the midst of the talk of birds, barns, flowers, food, drink, and Solomon; Jesus teaches us a profound truth: the root of anxiety is unbelief.

A Christian functions as an unbeliever when they worry about the cares of the world. Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we even ask him. He reminds us that God values us more than he values the birds. And if God cares and provides for the birds of the air, then won’t he much more care for his children?

O You Of Little Faith

I am making sweeping generalities here, so don’t fly off the handle with some exception to prove me wrong. But I see here that anxiety is caused by a lack of trust in the Lord. After Jesus commands us not to be anxious about our life, he almost sympathetically calls us ”those of little faith.” And a person who has little faith also has great unbelief. Hence the root of anxiety is unbelief.

The remedy then for anxiety is not medication, but trust in the God who loves, and provides for those in the fold of the one who said:

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. -John 10:7–11

Faith slays anxiety! What promise can you trust in today?