The excitement of something new is always mingled with apprehension of the unknown. An end-of-the-year Axios/Momentive poll found that the majority of American adults polled are fearful about what 2022 holds in store. According to this poll, Americans are more fearful heading into 2022 than they were heading into 2021. This time, as the old year fades into the new one, many people have a unique concoction of hope and fear. Hope that the politics, social climate, economy, and personal problems will be resolved in the new year . . . and fear that they will not. There’s the fear of a pandemic that does not seem to be going away anytime soon mixed with the fear of government leadership that seems even less eager to leave Americans alone.
How about you? Which emotion is stronger in you as you look ahead at the new year: hope or fear?
For some of us, we would have to say fear is stronger. We are afraid that things will not get any better, nationally, globally, or personally, than they were last year. We are afraid that our health will not improve, or that our family will not be restored, or that our deepest longings will not be met, or that our society will devolve in dystopia. We are afraid that our jobs will be insecure, or that our churches will continue to struggle, or that our prayers will continue to be on hold. Whatever is triggering the fear in you at the start of this new year, the first step to conquering it is facing it. We have to address the elephant in the room before we can lead it out of the room.
If we boil our fears down to their most basic component, we will find that we really all have the same fear. We are afraid for our lives—the quality and the longevity of our lives. While we say we are afraid for our health, we are really afraid of how our health will affect the quality and longevity of our lives. We may say we are afraid of losing our jobs, but we are really afraid of how losing that job will harm the longevity and comfort of our lives. When we say we are afraid for our family relationships, once again those relationships have major influence on the quality and longevity of our lives. Our fears may look complex, but they are made up of the basics: “What will we eat? Where will we live? What will we wear?” As humans with a strong self-preservation instinct, what we are really afraid for is our lives.
This fear for our lives is exactly what Jesus addresses in His sermon on the mount. In Matthew 6:24-26, Jesus says, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” Now, we may think that verse 24 is a different subject than verse 25, but the connective word therefore tells us that Jesus is talking about the same subject in both verses. Jesus is telling us that we cannot serve two masters. We will serve, but we must choose who or what we will serve. The choices are God or mammon, meaning wealth or things that are trusted in to sustain life. If we choose to serve the latter master, it makes sense that we would be fearful all the time. We will be constantly asking ourselves, “What will I eat? Where will I live? What will I wear?” Our attention will be constantly divided among these issues of life. But Jesus wants a better way for us. This is why He says, “Therefore . . . take no thought for your life.” While Jesus is not saying, “don’t think about your life,” He is saying, “don’t be anxious for your life.” At this point, we may be tempted to say, “But if I don’t look out for myself, who will?” Jesus answers that question, too. He continues in verses 26-30, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you be taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God 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?” Jesus addresses our most basic fear—the fear for our life—and assures us that He will take of us.
So, how can we go from being characterized by anxiety to being characterized by peace? Is Jesus saying, “Worrying doesn’t change anything anyway. Just stop worrying.”? No, we cannot flip a switch and “just stop worrying.” Jesus does not expect us to do that. Rather, He simply expects us to focus. In Matthew 6:31-33, He says, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these thing do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Notice the contrast in these verses: “Take not thought” (don’t be anxious) and “Seek ye first” (focus).
What we focus on consumes our thoughts and energies. Focus, by definition, is “a center of interest or activity” or “directed attention.” If you are focusing on something, you are looking away from everything else, clearing away all distractions, and making that one thing the center of your interest or activity. Focus is directed attention, which is the opposite of divided attention. Oftentimes, anxiety is the result of divided attention. The economy, our health, our family problems, our friends, politics—all of these important issues are jerking our attention this way and that. The urge to multi-task—to fix everything and make life happen all at once—breeds the emotion we identify as anxiety. We can’t sleep, or eat, or function the way we normally do because we are anxious . . . because of our lack of focus.
So, when Jesus commands us to seek, He is commanding us to focus. And what should be the center of our interest or activity? Toward what are we to direct our attention? We are to seek (or focus on) the kingdom of God. You see, when Jesus said we can serve one of two masters, Jesus was talking about our focus. What we focus on is what we serve. If we are focused on building our own kingdoms—the quality and longevity of our lives—then we are serving mammon. However, the promise is that, if we focus on Jesus, He will take care of the issues of life. While it is not wrong to care about the quality and longevity of our lives (in fact, it’s normal and healthy), we do not have to be overwhelmed with care for our lives. We don’t have to wring our hands about the economy, or wail over the state of our society, or weep about unrealized dreams. We can focus on serving Jesus and watch Him provide everything else. The apostle Paul experienced this peace, as he says in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” God created the world to work in such a way so that when we focus on Him, all the other issues of life become clear. What we should do, where we should go, who we should be with—all of these things are added unto us when we make Jesus our focus. This does not mean that we stay at home all day, every day, only reading our Bibles. Focus is simply a matter of priorities. Is our relationship with Jesus the center of our interest and attention? If it is, then all the other important things we must do will fall in the correct order under Christ’s kingdom.
This new year, we need focus. Rather than being distracted with all the unknowns, we need to be focused on what we do know—Jesus and the tasks He’s given us in this season. Whatever our hopes or fears for this new year, we can be sure of one thing. The joy of Christmas does not fade with the seasons. The joy of Christmas is Immanuel—God with us. God came to be with us at the incarnation of Christ, but He has been with us ever since. God is still with us in the form of His Holy Spirit. And this year, we can rest in the certainty of God with us, even amid the uncertainty of everything else. What do we need in the New Year? We need focus on Immanuel.