Have you noticed how virtually everything that we worry about is something in the future? We worry about what will happen if we hit financial hardship, lose someone we love, or receive a devastating diagnosis. All of these things, while undoubtedly genuine concerns, are hypothetical and future worries. Instead of worrying about what will happen tomorrow, a month from now, or a year from now, Jesus invites us to stop worrying about what will happen tomorrow or ten years from now and to focus on today.
As Jesus instructed a crowd not to worry in Matthew 6, he concluded His teaching on worry with an important principle: we only need to focus on today. He said to His crowd in this passage of Scripture: “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Indeed, today’s trouble is enough for today. We cannot know what the future holds. Guessing and worrying about the future is not healthy for us. What we do have is this moment that we are given to focus on. When we focus on the day that we are given instead of the unknowns of the future, we can find peace.
Jesus’ teaching about focusing on today instead of worrying about tomorrow brings Psalm 118:24 to mind: “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Instead of worrying and being overly concerned about the future, we can focus on the day God has given us. Even more, we can rejoice in this day God has given us instead of worrying about tomorrow, a year from now, or 10 years from now.
Worrying about tomorrow and the days after tomorrow will not comfort us. It will only keep us anxious and distracted from the gifts that God has given us today. After all, “This is the day the Lord has made.” Will you “rejoice and be glad in it?”
Choose today to take Jesus’ teaching about worry to heart and focus only on today. When you start to get overwhelmed by future worries, repeat the phrase, “focus on today.” Let this be a reminder that you do not have to worry about what will happen tomorrow or even 10 years from now. All you have to do is focus on what the Lord has put in front of you today. After all, today is a gift from the Lord.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let all Israel repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not let me die.
19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
and I will go in and thank the Lord.
20 These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,
and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer
and giving me victory!
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, Lord, please save us.
Please, Lord, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
