Welcome to part 4 of our Bible Study Blog Series: Comfort For The Overwhelmed Mom.

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Diagnosed anxiety disorders have been part of my life for longer than I can remember. Most of my anxiety is a chemical imbalance likely caused by the brain tumor I was born with, but anxiety as a mom is a whole new world.

Mom anxiety happens to most moms.

Matthew 6:25 is quoted at me often. At me, not to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s one of the many great Bible verses about anxiety. It says “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…” 

Um….ok, that all sounds great, but HOW? I know Jesus wants us to stop worrying and being anxious. Is this passage telling us to simply stop worrying and pump the anxiety brakes? 

Oh. Momma, I think Jesus is telling us a lot more here in this part of the Bible. He isn’t just going to leave us with a command we don’t know how to obey. He isn’t trying to add more mom guilt to your life. He wants you to have a rich, fulfilling, and enjoyable life!

Take a moment to read Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV) with me now.

25 “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? 26 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? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 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? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We often focus only on the law and command here. Notice that Jesus isn’t only laying down law in this passage, He is also pointing you to your value in the Father.

Our amazing God knows that sometimes validation alone can help ease anxiety. Our Creator, our Heavenly Father, our God takes the time to not only notice our human anxiety, but also helps us bear and carry that inevitable overwhelm.

THAT is how important you are to God. Check out the birds hanging out in the world. They don’t work full time. Birds don’t cook gluten-free dairy-free meals for their baby birds. They don’t limit screen time or keep detailed Happy Planners. The birds here in Illinois are pretty fat and happy, so it seems that God still takes care of them.

Hey….you. Yes. You.

Hear me when I say this. You are worth so much more to God. You are His daughter, His creation, His plan. Thank God for delights like healthy food to enjoy preparing, the ability to discern as a parent, and beautiful products to help manage our days. 

Thank God we can come to Him with the raw realities of anxiety, and He alone can and will help us. God scoops us up, validates our worry, helps us carry it, and shows us how to overcome and thrive. He gives us gifts through Bible verses about anxiety that dig far below the surface.

Jesus doesn’t stop after telling us to not be anxious, he gives us reasons and insight as to how and why. Let’s dig further into the context of this often-regurgitated passage of scripture to understand a more complex and comforting message.

Bear with me, I know this passage may scream “Guilt! Law! Moralism!”.

Find comfort in the fact that God is the one we SHOULD pay attention to when it comes to law and command, because HE LOVES US. 

Here is an earthly example to help form the idea: 

Picture your child at school on the playground. There is a deep muddy puddle just asking to be jumped into. Your kiddo’s little friend says “Don’t jump in there!” But only because that friend wants the puddle to jump in all for themselves. Now, imagine you are there with your child. You say “Don’t jump in there!” because it’s dirty and you want to save your kid (and yourself) from the inevitable anxiety that accompanies a wet and muddy kid. See the difference of intent and purpose?

Now, Jesus can’t be compared to humans. Not even close. But this thought process can show us that God isn’t making empty commands for HIS sake, it’s ultimately for OUR sake.

Sometimes we imagine that God’s commands are the walls of a tiny little box for us to live inside. “Don’t go outside these walls, or you’re in trouble”, we think. But what if we saw God’s Law as a fence around all the things that hurt us and make our lives miserable, leaving the rest of the world to enjoy in freedom and safety? God wants us to have the best possible life, now and eternally!

Our passage today begins with the word “therefore”. In the Bible, this language is used to connect a section of scripture with the previous verses for context reasons.

The previous part of Matthew warns us against storing up treasures in earth. Jesus is explaining that as long as we are enslaved to earthly things like food, fashion, and fun, we will have unnecessary worry and anxiety. 

I’m sure you have hear all about this in your life, right? Don’t have pleasure in earthly things, don’t collect things, maybe you’ve even been taught to not ENJOY things here on earth. 

Take a moment with me to see the truth in these incredible Bible verses about anxiety.

God is not telling us to not participate in earthly joys, He tells us to guard against being enslaved by them. HUGE difference!

This goes along with our human nature struggling to differentiate between our own wants and needs. That thought process is more equipping and encouraging. 

God gives us abundant gifts, but He doesn’t want us to worry about if there are more gifts coming. 

When you receive a Christmas gift, do you worry about receiving another Christmas gift next year? Probably not.

The Bible isn’t saying that you are a bad person for enjoying earthly things. God is telling us, though, that we must not allow ourselves to be captured and imprisoned by earthly things if we want to eliminate our anxiety and worry.

God doesn’t want us to have anxiety and worry, just like we don’t want our kids to feel dirty, muddy, and uncomfortable.

• God doesn’t want us to have to go through the burden of being cleaned up if we can avoid it.
• God wants us to be free from worry, but not from need. Worry is draining, am I right?!

Notice in this passage that there are some rhetorical questions. Aren’t you more important than birds? Which of you can add time to their life by worrying? Don’t you know God will clothe you graciously? 

This momma is my dear friend, Lindsay. Check out her amazing Etsy shop here!

Jesus knows the answers to all of these questions.

He is inviting you into the conversation. He is inviting you to answer these questions so that we may find value in ourselves, not to shame and lecture. That we may let go of some of that nasty anxiety and worry. 

Jesus invites us to live under his righteous and rad reign full of abundant care, joy, and delight. He wants to free us from the chains of worry and anxiety and invites to follow Him instead. 

This reminds me of an old song by Mary Mary that says this:

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance

I just want to praise you

(What ya want to do?)

I just want to praise you

(Yeah, yeah)

You broke the chains now I can lift my hands

(Uh feel me?)

And I’m gonna praise you

(What ya gon do?)

I’m gonna praise you

Our lives will not be free from earthy anxiety, worry, stress, and fear. The season of motherhood is unlike anything else, there is a free flowing tap of guilt, shame, insecurity, and uncertainty. God wants to turn that faucet off, and fill you with His promises, gifts, and Word instead. 

The topic of mutual delight between us and God is a topic close to my heart these days. I am part of a Mom Bible Study Book Club here in Southern Illinois and we are reading Delight! By Justin Rossow. Get your copy of the book here and read more about how we delight in God, and how He delights in us!

Delight!: Discipleship as the Adventure of Loving and Being Loved

CLICK HERE to read the previous post in this Bible Study Blog Post Series on Psalm 142!