The Present

 

    

 

    

Matt 6:34

 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

NIV

 

I firmly believe that if I could get a hold of this one verse that it would revolutionize my whole life!  I well remember in third grade seeing all of the multiplication tables.  I am not sure what the assignment was, but my "race-ahead" mind heard, "Learn all of them tonight."  I remember crying and fretting because it was too much to  learn.  My mother called the teacher and she assured her, "Of course not!"  Something in my mind always rushes ahead in time and borrows trouble from tomorrow.   Are you like that?  Or slightly less neurotic?!

Either way, I know most of us do borrow tomorrow's problems and bring them into today.  The problem with that, of course (!), is that the grace for tomorrow awaits us on that day.  When we look at tomorrow's problems with only today's grace, we are out-matched.  Rather, we should live in the present, working off of the grace that is provided today.

Often our fears for tomorrow are unfounded, and in anticipating trouble ahead, we fail to realize that tomorrow also holds its own blessings.  We must recognize that we are only promised today and must live in this moment.  Deal with today's troubles. Enjoy today's  joys. Refuse to live in the fear of the unknown tomorrow.  Greater joy awaits you!

 

Dear God, help me to lose the dread of tomorrow and focus on this day that you have given me.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

 

Tomorrow? Forget About It!

 

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”    Matthew 6:34

                                                            When you look ahead to all that lies before you in 2013, are you brimming with hopefulness, or are there things that lurk ahead that brings you concern?  Most of us find ourselves a mixture of the two extremes:  we want to believe good things are ahead, but life has a way of bleeding from one day to the next, and from one year into the next.

I will confess that I have had some time off from work over the holidays, recovering from some health stuff.  A mind at rest tends to look ahead and borrow trouble…  A time to remember work problems that are yet to be conquered;  bills that loom without  an obvious remedy; family issues that could go really well…or really badly…

Thanks goodness (!) that with all that could go wrong we have today’s passage of Scripture to guide our thoughts.  Borrowing trouble from the future causes much dread and angst.  And let’s be honest.  How many times has the actual outcome been much easier to manage than the thing we feared?

Living in today is a skill that must be developed.  Certainly there will be enough aggravating people; traffic problems and slow cashiers to keep us stressed out on a given day, without worrying if we can pay taxes on April 15^th, four months from now.  Obviously a balance is necessary as not all problems can be solved in a day.  But most of what we obsess on is issues that may not even come to pass, or if they do, God has a solution waiting for us when we get there.

As you live today, live in hope!  As you look to tomorrow, acknowledge that God has the answer for tomorrow’s problems.  Most likely, God’s solutions will not arrive until the day that we must have the answer. But he is faithful to show up- and forgetting that is a big time-waster and peace-stealer.

Dear Lord, help me to walk in the faith that you have given me for today.  Help me remember yesterday’s deliverance and Your faithfulness.  Help me to look ahead with hope and assurance that you will see me through it.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri

Tomorrow

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

 

Tomorrow my middle child will have surgery.  I am not looking forward to that.  In fact, I have some anxiety and dread about that.  But the truth is, wasting today fretting about tomorrow is futile.  It changes nothing.

I once heard a story about two men facing martyrdom, where they would be burned at the stake the following day. The one held the candle in their cell up to his arm, testing himself to see if he would be able to endure.  Immediately he snatched his hand away, declaring, “I won’t be able to do it!  I am a coward.  I am afraid I will deny my Lord.” The other prisoner rebuked him saying, “The Lord did not call you to burn your arm with a candle.  If he calls you to die at the stake tomorrow, you will have the grace to do it.  You will not experience tomorrow’s grace today.”  I have thought of this story many times and it is so true.  We borrow tomorrow’s problems and worry and fret, but the grace for tomorrow will meet us on that day.

I don’t know what lies before you that causes you dread or concern.  But make it your aim to not borrow problems from tomorrow…and I will do the same!

Dear Lord, thank you that you hold tomorrow in the palm of your hand.  Help me to trust you with all my tomorrows and thank you for the grace you have given me to face today.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Sherri