By David ReayThursday 18 Aug 2022LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (NLT)
Worry is pretty much universal among those who trust in Jesus. We are told not to worry, but we still worry. And for some of us, ongoing worry leads to a sense of guilt, a sense that we are not fully trusting in Jesus.
Jesus assures us we are being looked after, but we know some of his followers can be plunged into deep darkness. Has he failed them? Will he fail us? The quick and easy answer is that he won’t. Jesus doesn’t lie, Jesus is not swamped by circumstances. Yet our doubts might remain.
We can only take Jesus at his word and focus on living for him and remaining close to him, believing he is present even when we may feel he is absent. We can only live each day at a time. Heaping the possibilities of tomorrow on to the certainties of today is to risk being overwhelmed. Jesus promises strength and sustenance for today. Whatever tomorrow brings, that strength and sustenance will be there.
Corrie Ten Boom wrote in her books of many trials and suffering she endured. She perhaps had cause to worry. But it seems she learnt the art of trusting Jesus one day at a time. She wrote that worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but empties today of its strength.
Blessings,
David