He Cares for You, Part 7

"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:34

You know, the real rub with anxiety is that it is future-oriented. Whether that future is five

seconds, five minutes, five days, five months or five years away, it’s always about what

might happen and the fact that it is an unknown. Maybe it’s also coming from our

experiences, our baggage, our trauma, our knowledge of something or someone and

the attached expectations, but anxiety isn’t hard to fall into.

This is a great verse, you know? Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for

itself. A huge part of dealing with struggles with anxiety has to do with living within

today, getting your mind to park in the here and now. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow

may never come, but today, right now, this is all we know we have. My mind, like yours,

can easily live like a time traveler, choosing any point in time past or future to go to,

rehashing what has been done (and probably altering it) or painting a picture of the

potential future. The imagination is a powerful tool, and the further from adolescence

that I get, the less I use it for fun creativity and the more I may use it to protect myself

from perceived harms. I think sometimes, too, we like living in worst case scenarios so

we have already simulated stuff as bad as we could so if it doesn’t turn out that terribly,

we were ready nonetheless. Maybe that’s just me and I’m a little crazy, but I’ve done it

way too many times.

Jesus, the Lover of my soul, says, “Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will

care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Anxiety, therefore, is also

essentially borrowing trouble before it’s time. It’s very overwhelming to carry the

problems of a week in just one day. Jesus encourages us to not do that, but to attend to

the matters of each day and never to do it without Him. I encourage you to make your

mental world smaller today, not living in any more days than the one you are in. God

hasn’t asked you or me to live in times we are not in.

Also, do it out of obedience, because this verse is a command. Don’t worry about

tomorrow. That’s a command. When we do worry about tomorrow, while you or I may

not necessarily feel it’s wrong, guess what? It’s wrong, biblically speaking. It’s sin. It’s a

sin to not trust Him, to not focus on Him, to let the cares of this life drown out the call of

God, to let common concerns become more weighty to us than the kingdom and

righteousness of God. See it as such, for that may help you in dealing with it too. It’s not

simply unhealthy for us to worry, but it’s actually wrong as well. Now I know that it’s far

easier to say than to do, and I’m not discounting that. Some of us are naturally inclined towards worry and overthinking. Still, we need to listen to God and let Him do in us what

He wants to do. Don’t worry about tomorrow, but live for Jesus today.

Be blessed.

Sam Stringer