Millions of people have every reason to worry, because their lives are so tangled by selfishness and twisted. They need Jesus Christ. God has promised, in the midst of trouble and conflict, a genuine peace—a sense of assurance and security that the worldly person never knows (John 16:33). God has also promised new resources and new strength through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. However, millions of people, including some Christians, harbor anxieties and worries.  Anxiety exists when our basic needs have not been met. You cannot allay a baby’s anxiety by giving her a rattle when she is hungry. She will keep on crying until her hunger is satisfied by the food her body demands.

Neither can the soul of a mature person be satisfied apart from God. David described the hunger of all men and women when he said: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1, NIV). A starving man or woman’s chief need is food. A thirsty person’s chief need is water. A wounded person’s chief need is a physician. And a lost person’s chief need, whether he or she realizes it or not, is God.

You will never be the man or woman you ought to be—no matter how many remedies you try—until you hear and heed Jesus’ words: “Do not worry…but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:31,33, NIV).  Of course, most people are able to restrain themselves from gross crimes, but underneath the cloak of respectability seethes and surges a sinful nature that is capable of the worst evil imaginable. You may say, “But I know professing Christians who worry and are filled with anxieties.” You are right! That brings me to the second point: We have anxiety when we try to carry life’s burdens alone. The Bible says: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7, NIV).

By Blly Graham