The Anxiety of a Poor Investment

We parked the car, unbuckled our two kids, and left all our valuables in the car—a laptop, iPad, and a few hundred dollars’ worth of cash. We had planned to spend a fun day with friends in Columbia, Missouri, but then, already several miles into a walk around the downtown area, a thought started nagging me. 

Did I lock the car door? 

From that moment on, I could not shake the anxiety from welling up inside. Every step away from the car only made my worries worse. Did I lock the car door or not? Anyone could just waltz on by, open the car door, and snatch everything. I tried focusing on my family and our time together—after all, this was one of my days off—but the thought kept nagging at me. Someone could steal our stuff. This fun day could become a nightmarish hassle. I knew the chances of a theft were slim, but my anxiety only fueled the fear.

I had placed valuable possessions in an insecure location. 

We understand this issue when it comes to our physical possessions and money, but we have a harder time seeing that this same principle also applies spiritually. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19–21).“Laying up treasures” means to invest in something. Jesus tells them that where they invest their time and work is where they will find their heart, meaning their worship, identity, and purpose. Where we invest our time, how we spend our money, and with whom we cultivate relationships often indicate where our treasure lies. Our souls become entwined with these investments through spiritual osmosis, and soon this is how we determine our value and worth. Even more problematic, treasuring these things is a sign of idolatry. What we value externally reveals who we are internally. It also reveals who we ultimately serve, whether ourselves or God.

And there is a danger in investing our hearts in earthly things. 

Jesus is warning the disciples not to invest in earthly things that are subject to loss, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves can steal. Earthly investments are insecure investments. And insecurity has a way of breeding deep anxieties. 

Jesus continues, “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt. 6:25). Jesus shifts from talking about where we invest our treasure to warning us about anxiety. I think this is an intentional progression.    

Where we place our treasure can determine our anxieties. 

A risky investment will lead to anxiety. If you take something valuable and put it in an insecure location, you will be anxious about losing it. Who wouldn’t be anxious in this situation? In the financial world, this is called a high-risk investment, and financial advisors actually tell high-risk investors not to pay attention to their investments on a day-to-day basis because they know seeing the ups and downs will make the investor more anxious. This is what happens when our greatest treasures are placed in risky investments.

Likewise, when we place our identity and hopes in earthly investments, we find that they are not very secure. And if these investments are subject to loss, so are our hearts and identity. We’ve taken our invaluable souls and placed them in an unlocked car. Earthly investments will destroy our hope and peace—a peace that can only be found in a faithful obedience to God alone.

So, where do we invest our lives? If it is in something unstable, then anxiety will follow close behind. What will happen if a career path falls through, a debilitating sickness strikes, a relationship falls apart, ambitions are frustrated, political turmoil upsets our lives, or we lose a loved one too soon?  If any of these were where our treasure lay, we would fall apart. I believe this is why many of us lash out in anger or collapse into despair and apathy when we lose control. Or other times, we gorge ourselves on carnal appetites like sex, food, and entertainment to numb the pain of these losses.      

Insecure investments breed anxiety. 

Now not all anxiety stems from moral failure, but anxiety will always result from it. In light of Jesus’s teaching, we need to ask ourselves if our anxieties could be the fallout of poor investments. Start with the thoughts you simply can’t shake from your mind. Where are anxiety, restlessness, and fear working in your life? Work backward from there. Can you trace the tendrils of anxiety back to their roots? Have you poured your heart, identity, and affections into something that can be threatened by the moths, by the rust of the earth, by thieves who break in and steal? 

Many of us are running around—frightened and joyless—because our greatest treasures are in unlocked cars in a dangerous part of town. But Jesus says there is a better investment. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). There is a security in finding your identity in Christ Jesus. When he forgives, it is assured. When he judges, it is final. When he gives you a new identity, it is irrevocable. He himself is unchangeable. The treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven—our inheritance in Christ—can never be stolen or taken away. As the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans, nothing can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). Nothing can steal that heavenly investment. We need to ask ourselves whether our purchases, our time, our thoughts, our ambitions, and our drives are investing in kingdom projects. Are we investing in things that truly matter, or are we setting ourselves up for a spiritual recession we cannot recover from?

Instead of worrying about reputation, stressing over finances, fretting over work, and imagining the losses we will accrue in this life, we can walk with a little less anxiety knowing that in the end our greatest treasure is secure. It does not mean that those feelings of panic and anxiety will never happen again, but it does mean that they are not occurring because of misplaced worship. We can rest assured that our spiritual walk with Christ will not end in shame and disappointment. We are in Christ, and even in death that cannot be taken away. This is a treasure that has not been left in some unlocked car, susceptible to theft. It is a heavenly treasure where moth and rust cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal. Not even death can take it away. It’s an investment that is secure. No one can touch it. Our worship is invested in that person who has himself conquered earthly death—our Savior, Jesus Christ.