Do you ever dread tomorrow? Or spend restless nights full of fear and anxiety imagining every conceivable negative scenario for something you’re facing? If you never have, you are a rare individual. It’s probably safe to assume apprehension has overwhelmed most people at some point in their life. For a few, this describes every night. Believers often allow anxiety to disrupt their life despite the promise Jesus made. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Mat 6:34).
The above verse and the two following are easy to read and even memorize. But putting them into daily practice proves far more difficult. Peter wrote, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Pet 5:7 NIV). Paul takes it to another level as a command. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Phil 4:6 HCSB). The grammar indicates they were worrying about something and this literally is a charge, stop worrying. The word New Testament writers use, we can also translate anxious, care, or concern. It means to draw in different directions or to have a distracting care. Worry draws us away and distracts us from God’s purpose.
God knows man’s tendency to fret over the unknowns of tomorrow. Throughout scripture He reassures people they have nothing about which they should be anxious. When Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land, Moses was at the end of his life. He called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel . . . The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed (Deut. 31:7, 8). God gave a similar promise to their parents 40 years earlier when they were leaving Egypt (Exodus 6-8). The Lord demonstrated this with the parting of the Red Sea and the waters flowing back covering and destroying all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Three days later after finding no water in the wilderness Israel witnessed another example of God care.
Their hope must have risen as they approached the waters of Marah. However, it quickly turned to disappointment when they arrived. The waters were bitter. But the Lord had gone ahead and prepared a solution. He demonstrated His power over nature at the Red Sea. In this instance, God showed His power by a different means. Months or even years earlier before Israel arrived, He knew the dilemma His people would confront. Through the wind, a bird, or a person, He arranged for the seed of a particular species of tree to be planted and grow. This tree would turn the bitter waters sweet. The Lord showed him [Moses] a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet (Exo 15:25).
A mission’s team from our church arrived in Central America with their tools in hand ready to construct a sanctuary. They quickly realized they were facing a major hurdle—leaders of the local church had prepared nothing. The team had no lumber, no roofing, no concrete, or even a nail to begin construction. After two weeks of struggling to locate supplies, the team left having completed less than half the structure. After this fiasco, the mission’s director started sending two people three weeks before a team arrived in order to gather the needed materials and insure everything was prepared. No problems like this ever happened again. Apply this thought to your daily walk with the Lord. He has already been to your tomorrow and provided solutions for what you are facing.
Paul tells us God has prepared in advance the good works He desires us to do. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:10). But you may be thinking, “Ok, He helps me in my ministry, but what about everyday problems of life?” Remember the verses in the opening. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Pet 5:7 NIV). Peter says all your anxiety not a part or those pertaining to the ministry. He cares for you not just a few areas of your life, but you as a whole person, every bit of your life. When Jesus said do not worry about tomorrow, He is referring to the basic needs of existence. Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on (Mat 6:25). He then promises to take care of these and all we may need.
The Lord knows the challenges that will face you, the obstacles that are before you. He has many means of taking care of you. He can overrule nature and part your Red Sea or calm your storm as Jesus did. Or maybe He’s already planted the seed that will sweeten your bitter situation.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Don’t ruin today with tomorrow’s troubles. God is already there.