What is the conceptual tie that binds anxiety and planning? Both, of course, are intimately connected to thinking about the future. We feel anxiety when we anticipate something bad will happen, and we plan by imagining how our actions will unfold over time. Planing requires that we peer into our futures, and anxiety is one of the reactions we may have when we do (pp. 14-15).
In Matthew 6 Jesus is recorded saying:
27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing,29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?'32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.33 Seek the Kingdom of God* above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.
Similarly, James wrote:
13 Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit."14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone.15 What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that."16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
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