Let Jesus Argue With Your Soul About Being Anxious

This piece from John Piper is, I think, really encouraging. Most of us worry, some of us worry a lot....

It echoes Lloyd Jones (and indeed the Psalmists) who call us to "preach to our souls". Lloyd Jones said that we spend far too much time listening to ourselves and not enough time talking to ourselves!

We should be slow to treat Jesus as if he doesn’t know what he is doing. He is not naïve in the way he deals with our anxiety. In Matthew 6:25-34 he tells us three times not to be anxious (vv. 25, 31, 34) and gives us eight reasons not to be anxious.

Evidently he thinks this will help. So don’t call it simplistic. Call it grace. Believe him. Take every reason and preach it to your soul as true. Say,

Soul, this is true. Jesus Christ says so. Trust him. He died for you. He loves you. He created you. He knows you. No one — no counselor, no pastor, no friend — knows as much about you as he does. Listen to him. Let these reasons sink in. Bank on them. Now, let’s get up and do what we need to do. Be gone anxiety.

Here’s a summary of what he said:

• Life is more than food and the body more than clothing (Matthew 6:25).

• God feeds the birds and you are more valuable than they are (Matthew 6:26).

• It's pointless. It adds not one hour to your life (Matthew 6:27).

• If God clothes ephemeral grass, he will clothe eternal you (Matthew 6:28-30).

• Unbelievers are anxious about stuff. And you are not an unbeliever(Matthew 6:32a).

• Your father (!) knows that you need all these things you're anxious about (Matthew 6:32b).

• When you seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, what you need is added to you.

• Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Tomorrow's trouble stays there (Matthew 6:34).