Jesus said in Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” If we will take this message to heart, we will learn not to worry about the past, which we cannot change, nor the future which is in God’s hands. Instead, we will learn to take one day at a time in our service to the Lord and seek first His kingdom daily. We are taught in scripture to not worry in general and to leave things in God’s hands, feeling secure and sober in our faith.
Not that we should never plan for the future, but that we should also do as James says in James 4:13-15: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” What a sobering thought!
If we learn to preface all our plans for the future with the phrase “If the Lord wills” we will be approaching our future with the humbleness and piety that God requires of us. James goes on to say that speaking of the future in a confident, assured way, as if it will be without question, is boasting and evil. Truly, we do not know if we have tomorrow in this life and if we are doing the will of God, it will be by His leave that we are able to do anything in the future.
Certainly, we should not spend all of our present time worrying and planning about the future, but rather should be content to get through each day as it comes in our service to the Lord. If we will just learn that “sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” we will not dwell in the past or worry over the future. Certainly we should not borrow trouble by harboring wrongs that were done to us in the past, but prayerfully work through each day as if it is the only one we have. Indeed, it may be our last!
How else are we to make the best of each day? If we live with one foot in the future or the past, we will find very little time to accomplish what we should in the present. We must remember, however, that our service to God is a long term plan: it is for life, so Jesus is not implying that we should eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we will die. His point is that we should seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness and we should do it one day at a time, so that we do not become discouraged or lose heart.
If we can devote ourselves totally to God’s service today, the future will take care of itself and we should always remember that the past is in the past and the future is in God’s hands. If we can learn this, there will be a lot less stress in our lives and we can devote ourselves more fully to serving God. This is how God would have us live our lives until we reach the end of our days and can, hopefully, be ushered into heaven for eternity. That is the future we should bend all our hopes, dreams and energy toward.
This entry was posted in Christian blog and tagged God, If the Lord wills, living. Bookmark the permalink.