Do you like to make plans for the future?
My wife will tell you that I’m an eternal optimist and daydreamer, a dangerous (and often expensive) combo. I’m always thinking up ideas, projects, and constantly problem solving. For me the future is full of opportunity. Perhaps that doesn’t resonate with you at all and you feel the future is full of danger and obstacles, being careful about every decision to ensure tomorrow isn’t a disaster.
Both of these extremes are problematic: as daydreamers, we can spend our days thinking about the future and forget to live today. For the pessimist, fear of the future can lead to over-cautiousness and a lack of generosity as we try and hold on tightly to what we have, expecting it to be taken at any moment. Ultimately it reveals a mistrust in the goodness of God to provide.
Looking back, we’ve all dealt with a manner of challenges: health problems, job security, financial trouble. As with the pandemic, most of these situations will have arrived unplanned and unwanted. And how we respond to the past can affect how we live today.
Matthew 6 is a great chapter for focusing on our ‘today’, showing us that it matters to God – verse eight says: ‘Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.’ From verse nine, we have the Lord’s prayer, really a daily prayer: everything in it is for us today. In verse 34 we are reminded not to worry about tomorrow.
“THEREFORE DO NOT
WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW,
FOR TOMORROW WILL
WORRY ABOUT ITSELF. EACH
DAY HAS ENOUGH TROUBLE
OF ITS OWN.“
Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
Jesus cuts through our sensible, careful planning, and tells us to simply focus on today. It is a challenge to any of us who think we are in control. Instead, we need to trust our future to God — who always had the keys anyway. Each day trust in God. Be careful for nothing. Be grateful and be generous. Be present and live in His strength and hope for you today.
Amen.
