I’m not sure about you, but I feel like the words “anxiety” and “worry” have become all too common in our culture. Unlike in Matthew 6:33-34, I’m not worried about my food supply or what to wear. As an American, I’m not sure I’ve ever really been hungry. And though I’m not a fashionista or trend setting influencer, I really have more clothes than I need.
But recently, I found myself anxious for comfort. Anxious for relationship. Worried about what others thought. Worried that I was making wrong decisions. Anxious about how I measured up to other wives, friends, moms. Worried about the safety and health of my family. The more I tried to remove the anxiety, the more it built in me.
I realized that my issue was that I didn’t have revelation of this verse. It doesn’t tell me to chase the worry away! Instead it tells me to chase after everything that comes from God. Interestingly enough, this verse has what I’d like to call a “sister verse”, Mark 6:33-34. In the same verses of the previous book, the people are chasing Jesus. They can’t get enough of His teaching. They simply cannot get enough of Him. Verse 34 says this: “By the time Jesus came ashore, a massive crowd was waiting. At the sight of them, his heart was filled with compassion, because they seemed like wandering sheep who had no shepherd. So he taught them many things.” Mark 6:34 TPT
When we chase after Him, He is moved with compassion toward us! The people wanted more of Him and boy, did they get it. They got Him and food for 5,000 people out of a mere snack!
What if we chased Jesus instead of accepting worry or chasing our own solutions? What abundance could we find in Him? What if we as daughters started changing the culture by refusing “worry” and “anxiety” and took up relentless pursuit of the Kingdom of God?
-Jessie D.