Learning to Live for Today

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

Matthew 6:34 (NIV)

Some days, it’s all too easy for me to get sucked into my own agenda. I get entangled in my self-made web of concerns about the future. Yet God urges me to seek Him first, to honor Him in the way that I live and act, to bring glory to His name, and to leave those concerns to Him. It’s not that I don’t make tentative plans. But I don’t constantly stew over what, where, when, and how. Rather, I make the deliberate choice to walk by faith, day by day, trusting God to work out the details. I do my best, then give Him the rest. He will make everything fall into place.

To get ahead of myself – to rely on my resources, my ‘wisdom,’ my self-sufficiency, is to anticipate the future without the grace God provides anew each morning to meet that day’s needs. Today He’ll provide what I need for today’s struggles. Tomorrow He will provide what I need to get through tomorrow’s challenges.

So today, I will focus on this day and let God take care of the ones yet to come. He’s already gone ahead and has prepared the way for me. So today, I will bask in today’s mercies and leave tomorrow in His all-sufficient hands.

Thought: “Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what He deems best, Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest.” – Carolina Sandell Berg