I have witnessed, it seems in more clarity as of late, the connection between priority and anxiety in my life. That which I give great priority, too much priority, seems to directly translate into anxiety and overwhelms the mind.

What I mean, is there are things in this world, whether it be fancy cars, diamond jewelry, nice furniture, expensive things, finances, (namely anything in which we know is temporary and yet this world determines proves one a success) - and these things each of us places somewhere in our list of priorities. By priorities I do not simply mean those of our datebook, those of our time - though those are great indicators of where are priorities are. But what I also mean are priorities of the mind. What we spend our time thinking about, meditating about, focusing and thinking on, etc.

One can tell themselves (and I often have) that by openly professing one’s priorities that they are truly in order. I find lately that my words do not match the truth. My mind will be consumed in maintaining material things, and in turn they become the priority of my mental time, not simply my schedule. The more mental efforts I give to these things, the easier I am disrupted. The easier it is, in turn, to throw my life into craziness - as these things are impacted, so am I.

Yet scripture, Jesus Christ himself, said “…don’t be anxious for your life…” - we are not to allow these worldly temporary things to overwhelm both our mind and time. So why is that so difficult? What is the balance? What we do know, is that we cannot add “…one moment…” to our lives by being anxious about such worthless and temporary concerns. I see such anxiety as a direct lack of faith - for our God is good, and has provided for the birds in sky - how much more does he love us!

I hope to be able to keep that perspective when I find myself up in arms over that which is not worth being anxious over. Keeping his kingdom, and namely scriptures such as this (Matt 6:25-34) in mind during such struggles will aid in efforts to keep both my time and mental priorities in the right order.