Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Over the last several years, God has brought that truth very close to home for us. Those are Jesus’ words right after the famous ones, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” I always liked the NIV translation, “Today has enough trouble of its own.”
Very realistic. Jesus is not all flowers and balloons and halos.
Jesus point was not really to wow the crowd with his quite witty sarcasm. He was trying to make the point that no matter how much we fret about tomorrow… no matter how much we plan and prepare, tomorrow’s still gonna come, and today is what we should be focusing on.
The well-known line of Jesus’ prayer says “Give us today our daily bread”. And he meant it. God tried to teach Israel that lesson when they were wandering through the desert for 40 years too… just concentrate on today. TODAY you will have what you need, and I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU TODAY.
I think that’s the part God wants to teach us… all of us.
HE is going to take care of us. HE is going to give us what we need… TODAY.
I have really been struggling with that on this trip. Money of course plays a big part in all of the stuff God seems to want to teach us, not because we struggle with materialism or greed or anything with money really, but simply because we really constantly have just what we need for today. Not enough for tomorrow… until it’s today. 🙂
Well, we have this new Christmas CD. And it’s been selling fairly well. Which is good. But not quite as well as I’d hoped… so I continue to try and scheme and look ahead and use everything at my disposal to bring in more money so we don’t have to wonder about tomorrow… because we will have enough money for today AND tomorrow. When will I learn????????
How can I so constantly forget? God has shown me so often that it doesn’t matter how much I scheme for tomorrow, it only frustrates me. Whether I am frustrated, exhausted, worried, or completely at peace and trusting him, he still provides what I need today. Everyday.
But I think I am hinging all my hope on a big craftshow we get to sing at in December. I have been led to believe that this 2-day event for 60,000 people will be quite lucrative for us in CD sales. So, I am optimistic that we will sell as much as has been predicted (which would pay off most or even ALL of our significant debt, which would be awesome).
But many things along this trip keep putting that weekend in jeopardy. Snow for one. Jen’s health for another. (Moms and Dads, don’t worry, she’s fine, just really tired!) Money for another. If you were one to look ahead to tomorrow, you might think we would not have enough money to make it home (or even to the next gig?)
But I am not. I choose not to be. Really.
My hope is not in a gig. My hope is not in my best plans and schemes. My hope is in my Father who loves me.
He will take care of me today. And I will not ruin today by worrying about tomorrow.
God help us be thankful for the day he has given us today. With all its promise, and with all its trouble.
He will get us through.
Til Tomorrow becomes Today.
Thanks for reminding me, Greg. We’re in the midst of a BIG, life-changing experience that requires quite a bit of money. We have to come up with the bulk of it by spring. We started this adventure with the knowledge that God would provide if it was his plan. He’s been doing so. But at 3:00 this morning, I found myself fighting to go back to sleep because there I was, worried about $$.
He seems to remind me of this stuff the moment I need reminding. Thanks for letting God use you! =)