By: David Amsler
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
I love the way Jesus concludes this little section of the Sermon on the Mount on worry with this reference to trouble. We can see in many places that Jesus’ plan was not to get us out of trouble, but to get us into all the right kinds of trouble. He certainly did not go around singing ‘Don’t worry, be happy.’ The way I take Jesus statement is: don’t be so focused on tomorrow that you fail to deal with today’s share of necessary trouble today. As I look at my life I see stacks and piles of accumulated troubles from previous days that I failed to confront there and then. How about you? Jesus view of time was that the past was gone but forgivable and the future was uncertain but in God’s hands, so today is the time we get to live with. I like the definition of sanity as ‘daily collisions with reality’. I’m going to use part of today to inventory my procrastinated troubles and start working on the backlog. Jesus said, “In this life you will have trouble,” and he meant it as an encouragement, not a warning.
Lord, what am I saving myself for? You have been trying to tell me that troubles avoided are troubles multiplied. Thank you for this precious today. I will confront the necessary and life-giving troubles you are bringing into my life — today! Amen.
