Instead of forcing yourself to trust a God who isn’t protecting your earthly idols, it’s more effective to identify those false gods first. See how Jesus satisfies your desires, then reflect on God’s promises to protect your heavenly treasure. When my personal success is in jeopardy, I’m prone to anxiety. So I need to reflect on how Jesus has been successful for me, how he’s been perfect in my place. Then, after painstakingly moving my treasured success from earth to heaven, I can finally breathe, knowing nothing on earth can touch my treasure in heaven.

Have you ever felt persistently anxious, no matter how many times you reflect on God’s promises? Your stressful thoughts are like obstinate zits on your soul’s face, unfazed by the poking and prodding of Romans 8:28 and every other passage about God’s sovereign care. Incessant recitations of “God’s working everything together for good” have left your fretful pimples sore and bleeding. Your worry is still right there. Defeated and exhausted, what should you do?

Do you just need to believe harder? Should you close your eyes, muster up some faith, and perform a spiritual judo move on your doubt? Are you anxious because you scrolled through Instagram for three minutes too long? If you’d just commit to a month-long break like Sally in your small group, would your social media fast transport you into emotional serenity? Or maybe your anxiety is a pride issue, and what you need to do is stop being a know-it-all and trust a sovereign God.

I certainly battle doubt. I’m guilty of anxiously scrolling past posts of other anxious people for unreasonable amounts of time. And my soul regularly clamors for authority that only belongs to God. But while addressing these areas has occasionally curbed my anxiety, it often doesn’t.

Maybe you can relate. So what should we do?

I won’t pretend to offer a simple answer to such a difficult, multifaceted question. That’d be unrealistic and, honestly, just mean. But in Matthew 6:19–34, Jesus does offer another approach. Before he calls us to trust him, he tells us to treasure him.

Treasure God First

There’s nothing complicated about Jesus’s teaching in this passage, and there’s nothing complicated about its structure. In verses 19–24, Jesus wants us to treasure God, and in verses 25–34, Jesus wants us to trust God. Treasure and trust. Straightforward, right?

What I find fascinating, though, is how Jesus connects these two sections. After calling us to treasure God, he says, “Therefore . . . do not be anxious.” Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, therefore, trust God. That’s a curious way to put it.

There’s something about our treasure that either allows us—or doesn’t allow us—to trust God. If we treasure God, we can trust him. But if we treasure something else or someone else, we won’t trust God. Anxiety seems to swing on the hinge of this adverb: “Therefore.”

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