The Reasons for AnxietyNäide

2. What's in your heart?

Verses 22 to 23: "The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!"

How does this text relate to anxiety? Having light is a natural effect of having God in your life. He comes to live in us and illuminates our hearts. Inevitably we will reflect His light outward. And if God lives in us, how can we give space to anxiety? If His Spirit pervades our lives to the point of overflowing, we will shine like stars, and worries will not even touch us. Anxiety and fear are like the shadows that appear when something comes between us and the light. Where there is full light there is no place for them.

Verse 27: "And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?"

We can choose whether to yearn to rise up out of pride or humbly let the light of God lift up our lives by making us shine with his light.

Does the light of life live within us or the darkness of pride and arrogance?