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

Matthew 6:34 NIV

“Therefore” is the conclusion derived from the truth that God will provide all we truly need, on the condition that we seek His kingdom and His righteousness! Since we have such a promise backed up by the testimony of divine providence, we should not fret about tomorrow. It is not that we “earn” or “merit” His gifts, but our seeking shows we are surrendering our independence and throwing ourselves on Him to take care of what we need.

Merimna means to divide, to draw in different directions, distraction! Do you know that worriers are consumed by fear, which makes it difficult to trust God? It would be in our best interests to not let worries about tomorrow affect our relationship with Father God today. Worrying about the future and material things is pointless because God gives us one day at a time, and there is usually plenty of trouble to fill our proverbial one-day plate!

Know that this exhortation is in aorist subjunctive and not aorist imperative; nevertheless, in the context it functions essentially as a command to not worry. Now just try to not worry. What do you do? Worry! As discussed above regarding the command to seek first His kingdom, Jesus’ exhortation and command here clearly also calls for dependence on the Spirit, not self. We need supernatural sufficiency, not self-sufficiency to obey this exhortation. Would you like to be filled, controlled by the Spirit?

Walk by the Spirit. Do not grieve the Spirit. Do not quench the Spirit. Then He will enable you to jettison the worries of earth and replace them with wonders of heaven and eternity, which is always a good antidote for temporal worry. He will enable us to fix our eyes on Jesus, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NASB).

He will enable us to gird our mind for action, keep sober in spirit and fix our hearts’ eyes completely on future grace, the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13 NASB). He will enable us to think upon the things which are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, things of excellence and things that are worthy of praise. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8 NASB).

When you leave here today, don’t borrow trouble. There’s plenty to be thinking about right now. So many people are frozen with fear over what might happen two or three months down the road. Listen, if God could create the world in seven days, He can surely handle your problems in May, June, or July. Each day has enough trouble to keep you plenty busy. You take care of today and God will take care of tomorrow.

One of the best ways to avoid dealing with today’s challenges and difficulties is to get wrapped up in all our tomorrows. It seems easier to worry about what might not happen in the future than to deal with what is happening in the present! Tomorrow may require plans and forethought, but not worry. Today requires work and trust. Worry immobilizes us today and reveals a lack of trust in God’s ability to hold tomorrow and preserve us.

Jesus left no doubt that troubles of one kind or another will be part of the daily routine. But He also described those troubles as “enough” for each day. Can we not also trust God to provide whatever we need for the day? When we worry about tomorrow, we misuse the strength Father God has provided for us today. We need to take one day at a time in our relationship with Father God.

As we wrap this up today, this is for those of us who had never thought of worry as a form of taking on God’s responsibility. But the more we think about this, the more I realize that worry, in its naked form, comes close to doing just that. I thought of this after seeing a sign in a church foyer that read: “Do not feel totally, personally, congruently responsible for everything. That’s my job. Signed, God!”

This advice does not absolve us of all responsibility, however. The force of the statement lies in the words “totally, personally, irrevocably, and that means everything.” We often feel we must solve all our problems ourselves, and that unless we come up with the right solution, all will be lost.

Of course, we must take responsibility for our own lives. Yet God wants us to rely on His guidance. When problems arise, our first duty is to bring them to Him in prayer. He may show us that we’ve created our own difficulty and may reveal that we must make changes to resolve it. He’ll grant forgiveness and give us the strength to change. Or He will assure us that we’re doing all we can and say, “Leave it with Me. Just trust Me and do your next duty.”

Not only that, tomorrow’s worries may never come to pass. A godly woman who had lived long enough to learn some important lessons about life said, “I’ve had a lot of trouble in my life, and most of it never happened!” Only Father God has sufficient energy and wisdom to handle everything well. As your pastor, let me remind us that worry will gradually lose its hold on our lives, and if we let Father God be God, it will help us in our journey of not playing God.

Let us close this morning knowing that it is one day at a time. Perhaps you’ve seen the phrase “One Day at a Time” on a bumper sticker, plaque, or refrigerator magnet. The slogan is often used by recovering alcoholics as a reminder that a person doesn’t have to stay sober forever, just for today. A month, or even a week, without alcohol may seem impossible for them. But the key to success is to trust God for the strength to say no to a drink today.

The same principle applies to worry. We don’t have to figure out how we’ll handle next month’s challenges or next year’s uncertainties. We simply need God’s grace for today. Tomorrow will have its own provision of grace when tomorrow comes. But today, this day, has enough trouble of its own. And praise God, today also has enough grace of its own. One day at a time. That’s how we’re meant to live. That’s how we learn to trust. That’s how we discover that God is faithful, not just in theory, but in the lived reality of our daily lives.