George Muller knew a lot about faith—the best way anyone can know anything: He lived by it. His early life was one of gross wickedness. By the time he was twenty, the age he became a Christian, he had already done time in jail. But then his interests and attitude radically changed.

After Muller spent years training for the ministry, he went to England to do missionary work among Jewish people. When he and his wife moved to the British seaport of Bristol in 1832, they were horrified to see masses of homeless orphans living and dying in squalid, narrow streets, and foraging for food in garbage heaps.

The Mullers, with an unshakable belief in the Bible, were convinced that if Christians took Scripture seriously, there were no limits to what they could achieve for God. They set out to feed, clothe, and educate destitute orphan children. At the end of their lifetimes, the homes they established cared for more than 10,000 orphans. Unlike many today who say they “live by faith,” the Mullers never told anyone but God of their need for funds. He always abundantly provided through their thankful prayers and humble waiting on Him.

George Mueller said, “Where faith begins, anxiety ends; where anxiety begins, faith ends”. Because of his exemplary life, we can believe he knew what he was talking about. If we would do a comprehensive study on what Scripture says about anxiety, we need to examine what it says about living by faith.

Matthew 6:25Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? 26Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? 28And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Anxiety, fear, worry, and stress are familiar words in our day, and familiar experiences to many. More and more we’re hearing of an extreme form of anxiety referred to as a “panic attack
They usually are related to an unfounded fear, so overwhelming and so overpowering, that it clutches a person’s heart, makes it beat faster, produces chills or perspiration, and the person feels completely unable to cope with the moment.

The Apostle Paul wrote that apart from the unrelenting external pressures he had to face, such as persecution, hardship, and imprisonment, he also had daily upon him the internal pressure “of concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28). (Phil. 2:20; cf. 1 Cor. 4:17).

Anyone who knows and loves Jesus Christ is capable of handling pressure like that. The wrong way to handle the stresses of life is to worry about them. Jesus Himself said three times, “Do not be anxious” (Matt. 6:25, 31, 34). Paul later reiterated, “Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:6). Worry at any time is a sin because it violates the clear biblical command.

Anxiety, left unresolved, can debilitate one’s mind and body and even lead to panic attacks.

There is a concern about the solutions some Christians offer to the problem of anxiety. A survey of the books put out on the topic by evangelical publishing houses is telling. Most are a formula, anecdotal, which is evidence based only on personal observation, collected in a casual or non-systematic manner, or psychological in orientation. They contain a lot of nice stories, but not many references to Scripture. When Scripture is employed, it is often incidental and without regard for its context.

Even more troubling is the superficial approach and disdainful attitude that Scripture, apart from modern psychology, is inadequate for dealing with anxiety and life’s other woes. It contradicts the biblical truth that our Lord Jesus Christ, through His divine power, “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

But what is the root of anxiety? And how can it be severed? Matthew 6. Four times in this text Jesus says that we should not be anxious.

1. Verse 25: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.”
2. Verse 27: “And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?”
3. Verse 31: “Therefore do not be anxious.”
4. Verse 34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow.”

In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “Do not be anxious for your life, The tense in the Greek text is properly translated, “Stop worrying.” The tense in verse 31 is different, however, and means, “Don’t start worrying.” Thus Jesus brackets our passage with this meaning: If you are worrying, quit; if you haven’t started, don’t.

We all have to admit that worry is a common temptation in life. Anxiety is blatant distrust of the power and love of God. In spite of its lack of subtlety, we fall into it so easily and so often.
We’re not much different from the people to whom Jesus spoke. They worried about what they were going to eat, drink, and wear. And if you want to legitimize your worry, what better way than to say, “Well, after all, I’m not worrying about extravagant things; I’m just worrying about the basics.”

The Greek word for “life” has to do with the fullness of earthly, physical, external life. Don’t be anxious about this temporal world, and the food, clothing, and shelter associated with it. Jesus said previously, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). Focusing on earthly treasures produces earthly affections. It blinds our spiritual vision and draws us away from serving God. That’s why God promises to provide what we need.

As children of God we have a single goal, treasure in heaven; a single vision, God’s purposes; and a single Master-God, not money. Therefore, we must not let ourselves become preoccupied with the mundane things of this world “what [we] shall eat, or what [we] shall drink”.

Perhaps in American society such a warning seems a bit obscure. After all, there’s a market of some sort on practically every corner. We’ve got so much water in our homes we never think about it.

Jesus says that the root of anxiety is lack of faith in our heavenly Father. As unbelief gets the upper hand in our hearts, one of the results is anxiety.

So when Hebrews says, “Take heed lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief,” it includes this meaning: “Take heed lest there be in you an ANXIOUS heart of unbelief.” Anxiety is one of the evil conditions of the heart that comes from unbelief. Much anxiety, Jesus says, comes from little faith.

When anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God’s glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked. At first blow our belief in God’s promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee.” Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike.

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” It does NOT say, you will never feel any anxieties to cast onto God. It says, when the mud splatters your windshield and you lose temporary sight of the road and start to swerve in anxiety, turn on your wipers and squirt your windshield washer.

You deal with anxieties by battling unbelief.

In our text we have the illustration of anxiety over food and clothing. Even in our country with its extensive welfare system, anxiety over finances and housing can be very intense. But Jesus
says in verse 30 that this is owing to unbelief: “O you of little faith.” And so this paragraph has at least half a dozen promises in it to battle that unbelief.

verse 32 he says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”

That is a spectacular promise.

In everything you do at home and at work, put God’s purposes first, and he will provide all you need to live for his glory. Believe that promise, and financial anxiety will evaporate in the warmth of God’s care.

Philippians 4:6 he says just like Jesus, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God.” And then in 4:19 he gives the promise like Jesus, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

When we are anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, we battle unbelief with the promise: “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

When we are anxious about our ministry being useless and empty, we fight unbelief with the promise, “So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

When we are anxious about being too weak to do our work, we battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), and “As your days so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25).
When we are anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, we battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

When we are anxious about facing opponents, we battle unbelief with the promise, “If God is for us who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31).

When we are anxious about being sick, we battle unbelief with the promise that “tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed” (Romans 5:3–5).

When we are anxious about getting old, we battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).
When we are anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9–11).

When we are anxious that we may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, we battle unbelief with the promise, “He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6). “He who calls you is faithful. He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

The writer of Hebrews said to “lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”

12:1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When you first learn to run, you quickly find out that you have to run light. You may train in a sweat suit with weights strapped on, but you need to take them off before you get to the starting blocks. The effective runner gets rid of the bulk and runs with the bare minimum.
In the race of faith we need to strip off anything that will hold us back. Many things can weigh us down and encumber us in the Christian life: Materialism, immorality, and excessive ambition and etc.

One of the things the writer of Hebrews probably had in mind was legalism. He was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience who struggled with that issue. They were trying to run the race with all their Jewish ceremonies, rituals, and rites. In essence, this writer said, “Get rid of all of that and run the race of faith. Live by faith, not works.”

Many Christians still live by works. Instead of Jewish legalism it’s Christian legalism.

Another weight or sin that “so easily entangles us” is doubt. A believer may affirm with feeling the truth of Philippians 4:19: “God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” but become filled with anxiety when financial trouble comes. The most basic battle of our life is the battle to believe in the living God, and not to allow our heart to become an evil heart of unbelief.

Most of us need to admit that we don’t believe God as much as we claim.

What is our protection against doubt?

Paul said that above all, take “up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16). When Satan fires his temptations, we stop them with the shield of faith. It’s arming ourselves with an attitude that says, “Satan, you’re a big liar. Nothing you say is true, but everything God says is true, so I’m going to believe God.”

The writer of Hebrews also said we’re to be “fixing our eyes on Jesus, He is the greatest example of faith who ever lived because He had the most to lose.

The phrase “fixing our eyes on Jesus” is literally translated, “looking away to Jesus.” Having the right focus is essential to completing any goal successfully.

Similarly, in the Christian life your focal point must be beyond yourself. In fact, the sooner you get your eyes off yourself, the better off you will be. I see much harm coming from the current preoccupation with psychotherapy and intensive introspection. We can get so wrapped up watching ourselves that it’s like trying to drive a car while watching the pedals.
Just at Jesus. He’s the perfect example,

The author of Hebrews was keenly aware that many such concerns in running the Christian marathon would plague us. Hebrews 12:3 “Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin”. In other words, “I don’t see any of you bleeding. It may be a little rough at the water cooler, you may get hassled in class, and you probably won’t get preferential treatment by the government or anyone else, but you haven’t been crucified like Someone I know.”

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As you read through the Scriptures, one thing you learn is that God wants His children preoccupied with Him, not with the mundane, passing things of this world.

He says, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). To free us to do that He says, “Don’t worry about the basics. I’ll take care of that.” A basic principle of spiritual life is that we are not earthbound people. Fully trusting our Heavenly Father dispells anxiety. And the more we know about Him, the more we will trust Him.

Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into His kingdom, and give them eternal life, but just don’t think He can get them through the next couple of days. That is pretty ridiculous. We can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe Him for the lesser one.

God wants to free His children from being preoccupied with the mundane. Colossians 3:2 says as directly as possible, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Therefore a materialistic Christian is a contradiction in terms.

What is your heart’s preoccupation?

Are you more concerned with the kingdom or with the things of this world?