One of my very first pastoral mentors taught me the vital life lesson that today鈥檚 worries are enough for today.
If you want to find the scriptural reference, look for Matthew 6:34: 鈥淪o do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today鈥檚 trouble is enough for today.鈥�
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That handy piece of advice has saved my bacon on numerous occasions when the weight of the world was about to crush me.
When the seeming emotional tidal wave of personal heartbreak is ready to pull me under; or when professional obligations seem to pile so high that I don鈥檛 believe I can ever ascend that steep cliff face; and in so many other instances in between.
That鈥檚 when I remind myself, 鈥淲ell, there鈥檚 really nothing I can do about that today. So, there鈥檚 no sense losing sleep over it, fretting over it, letting it drain my optimism. Because that is tomorrow鈥檚 problem. Jesus tells me so.鈥�
Friends, this is effective. It really is. Because there is no greater thief of our productivity, nor our joy than worry. And there is no greater producer of worry than focusing on future developments over which we have no control.
So my advice? Be like a good New Yorker and 鈥淔uhgeddaboudit!鈥�
Granted, we can鈥檛 all live like Timon and Pumbaa because, after all, there are relationships to maintain, families to run and societies that need order.
But let鈥檚 be honest here: We鈥檙e all killing ourselves a little bit every day given the stress and anxiety levels we鈥檙e carrying around with us nowadays.
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I give a grateful nod to my thoughtful wife, Shelley, who gave me a loving kick in the pants the other night when I was unproductively dwelling on a negative turn of events at work that day.
As we exercised together at home that night, me on the treadmill, she on the yoga mat, as only a spouse can, she lovingly called me out: 鈥淎ren鈥檛 you supposed to lead the organization with inspiration? What鈥檚 with the Eeyore act?鈥�
And she was absolutely correct. At that moment, I was forgetting one of my very own favorite scriptural principles: Today鈥檚 worries are enough for today. Period.
I was tired, and a couple long days had driven me to a spiritual low point. However, a loving spouse thankfully noticed that I wasn鈥檛 living up to my own core values and reminded me of what I preach to others.
Years ago, Pastor Aaron taught me the value of keeping worry at bay and living in the moment. In the present, my wife Shelley reminded me to stay true to that core belief and challenged me to live up to it.
Friends, this is the good stuff. The stuff of faithful living. This is why we鈥檙e designed to live in community together. Amen.
The Trust Project
