The Battle Beneath Part II

PART II

June 21st, 2026 (Fathers Day)

Trust the Father Who Knows

Matthew 6:25–32

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…” — Matthew 6:25

The word “therefore” connects this section to what came before. Because you cannot serve God and mammon, do not live consumed by worry over material needs.

Jesus mentions food, drink, and clothing. These are real needs. Jesus is not dismissing responsibility. He is confronting anxiety.

Anxiety in the United States

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders in the U.S.
• About 19% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder in a given year.
• Approximately 31% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.
• Anxiety disorders affect more than 40 million American adults annually.

Global Statistics

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide.
• The World Health Organization estimates that about 359 million people globally were living with anxiety disorders in 2021.

Trends in Worry and Anxiety

• In a 2024 American Psychiatric Association poll, 43% of U.S. adults reported feeling more anxious than the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022.
• Common sources of worry include:
  • Finances
  • Health
  • Personal safety
  • Relationships and family
  • Work and job security

Who Is Most Affected?

• Women are significantly more likely than men to experience anxiety disorders. Past-year prevalence is roughly 23% for women vs. 14% for men.
• Young adults report the highest rates of anxiety, with prevalence generally decreasing with age.
• Nearly 32% of adolescents experience an anxiety disorder.

Treatment Gap

• Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only about 25–40% of people with anxiety receive treatment.

Everyday Worry vs. Anxiety Disorder

• Worry is a normal human response to uncertainty or potential problems.
• An anxiety disorder involves excessive fear or worry that is persistent, difficult to control, and interferes with daily life, work, relationships, or health.

There is a difference between planning and worrying.

• Planning is responsible stewardship.
• Worry is fearful control.
• Planning prepares for tomorrow.
• Worry tries to control tomorrow.
• Planning honors God.
• Worry forgets God.

Jesus gives several reasons not to worry.

1. Life is more than material needs.

“Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” — Matthew 6:25

“Materialism is the mother of anxiety.” Randy Alcorn

Your life is bigger than what you consume, wear, earn, or own.

2. The Father feeds the birds.

“Look at the birds of the air…” — Matthew 6:26

Birds work, but they do not worry. They gather, but they do not panic. They live under the care of the Creator.

Jesus does not say, “You are like birds.”
He says, “You are of more value than they.”

3. Worry cannot add to your life.

“Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” — Matthew 6:27

Worry feels productive, but it produces nothing good. It cannot lengthen life. It cannot solve tomorrow. It cannot control outcomes.

4. The Father clothes the lilies.

“Consider the lilies of the field…” — Matthew 6:28

The flowers do not labor anxiously, yet God clothes them with beauty greater than Solomon’s splendor.

5. The Father knows what you need.

“For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” — Matthew 6:32

This is the heart of the passage.

Your Father knows.

A child in the back seat may not know the route, the traffic, the cost of gas, or the timing. But if the child trusts the father who is driving, he can rest.

Jesus is not calling us to pretend there are no needs. He is calling us to trust the Father who already knows them.

When worry rises, preach these truths to your soul:

• My Father knows.
• My Father sees.
• My Father cares.
• My Father provides.
• My Father is already in tomorrow.

Worry shrinks when the Father becomes bigger in your vision.

Jesus now gives the central command of the whole passage.

VI. Seek First the Kingdom

Matthew 6:33–35

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33

This is the climax.

Jesus does not merely say, “Stop worrying.”
He gives us something greater to pursue.

The answer to anxiety is priority.

Seek first the kingdom.

• To “seek” means to pursue, desire, aim at, strive after. It is active, intentional, ongoing.

The kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God. To seek His kingdom means I want His will, His ways, His mission, His glory, and His authority above everything else.

• To seek His righteousness means I desire to live rightly under His rule.

Jesus promises:

“All these things shall be added to you.”

That does not mean God gives us everything we want. It means the Father will faithfully provide what we need as we put Him first.

“Where faith begins, anxiety ends; where anxiety begins, faith ends.” George Muller

“Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth ‘thrown in’: aim at Earth and you will get neither.” C.S Lewis

When you chase earth, you lose peace, purpose, and eternity.
When you seek God first, He orders everything else beneath His rule.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” — Matthew 6:34

Jesus is not denying trouble. He says each day has enough of it. But He forbids borrowing tomorrow’s trouble and carrying it today.

• Grace is given daily.
• Mercy is new every morning.
• Bread is daily bread.
• Strength is for today.

Do not drag tomorrow’s fear into today’s faith.

Here are four ways to seek first the kingdom this week:

1. Put God first in your private devotion.
   Fast, pray, and give for the Father’s eyes, not people’s applause.
2. Put God first in your finances.
   Use money as a servant of worship, generosity, and mission.
3. Put God first in your decisions.
   Ask, “Does this honor Christ and advance His kingdom?”
4. Put God first in your anxiety.
   Turn worry into prayer, fear into faith, and tomorrow into trust.

Here is what we have learned in these past weeks as we have dug in to this portion of the Sermon on the Mount:

• Do not perform for people; live before the Father.
• Do not store your hope on earth; treasure heaven.
• Do not let your vision be clouded; see clearly.
• Do not serve two masters; choose God.
• Do not be ruled by worry; trust your Father.
• Do not chase tomorrow; seek the kingdom today.

The whole passage is calling us to one thing:

Put God first because only God is worthy of your heart.