Introduction
Anxiety. One of the most common ailments of our time. We rush and try to do everything we have to do, constantly weighed down by the noose of shame and worry. Imagine if you could wipe the slate clean and start over. Wipe away the shame of yesterday and the crippling worry about tomorrow and just live in today. That is what God offers us, a blank slate. So let me show you how to start over.
Worry
It seems our society is split into two camps. The ones who obsess about everything, driving themselves deeper into anxiety, to the point where they struggle to get through the day. And the ones chanting “que sera, sera,” whatever will be will be, in an endless parade of distraction and hedonistic pleasure. None of these approaches to life seem to be effectual or successful.
The worriers tie themselves down with such a wide scope off thoughts, that they become paralyzed. How in the world can you solve a problem when the scope of problems are infinite? The weight is too much for anyone to bear. Anxiety is supposed to protect you from inaction. Anxiety wants to propel you in to action, but too much does the opposite. If your car’s airbag starts growing spikes, its best to address it.
The distractionists on the other hand, insist that any progress is impossible. Any focus should be shunned as they distract themselves with whatever makes them happy at the time. This is very tempting. If tomorrow is uncertain, why not do everything today that makes you happy. The consequences be damned. A booze filled bender does wonders for anxiety. All your worries melt away, and you are free to finally enjoy the moment. But all you’ve done is push today’s responsibilities to the next day. The debt compounds fast, and one day the debt will come do. And you will realize that you’ve wasted all your potential standing still.
So too much worry is crippling and too little worry is immobilizing. How in the world are we supposed to come to a happy middle between these two extremes? Jesus addresses this very question in the sermon on the mound.
Live For Today
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
– Matthew 6: 34 (NIV)
The Greek in Matthew 6, for worry, can also be translated as care or thought. Therefore, take no care for tomorrow or thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care for itself. This statement from the sermon on the mound is a focusing charge. Jesus is not saying that we ought not care. That we should not spare a thought or focus. But, that we should focus on today and not tomorrow.
“Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
-Thomas Carlyle
In Matthew 11: 29-30, Jesus says that we should take upon ourselves His yoke, and He will give us rest in exchange. For His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus charges us with a responsibility. A burden. We all have our crosses to bear. But we ought not take on a bigger yoke than Jesus intends us to. In light of these verses, we have a responsibility to live for today.
Your focus and heavenly task is not in a yesterday, which you cannot change, or a tomorrow, which you cannot control. You can only make a difference today. We are called to live out all our time, energy and enthusiasm just for today. If you constantly segment your mind between things you have no control over, you will get nothing done. We need to focus completely on the task at hand, or we will do everything half-heartedly.
What you must do today, is too important, to weigh yourself down with yesterday and tomorrow. This is the way heavenly battles are fought. If you win the battles of today, eventually, you will win the war. So yoke yourself within today. Take up today’s responsibility with all your enthusiasm. And spare no thought for yesterday and tomorrow.
Close The Door On Yesterday
We will fail. Just the act of living and striving to be better, means you will fall short. It is however, still infinitely better than standing still. People stumble as make their way uphill, but that is the only way to go, if you want to grow. Climb uphill or slide downhill. So strive for something, walk uphill, but how do we get back up when we fall? Wouldn’t it be great if we could just wipe the slate clean and begin again? Without all the hurt, the disappointment and looming future worries. Well, I have good news. Let me show you how God says you can start over.
“It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.”
– Joseph Conrad
The Israelite’s concept of days differed quite a bit from our own. Our days ends in darkness and begins promptly at midnight. We don’t acknowledge the new day. It just passes over us while we sleep. The Israelites, however, started their day with the crack of dawn. The morning light dictated the new day. The light of God washing away the darkness of yesterday.
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
– Lamentations 3: 22- 24 (NIV)
When we fall short and fail. When we are a bad partner or parent. Or even when you fail to try, and don’t live up to all you could be today. When all we feel like is a failure today, tomorrow is a new day. When tomorrow dawns God’s compactions are new, and the new day’s possibilities are infinite.
The new dawn brings new potential. Today could be the day when you start growing closer to your loved ones. Today could be the day where you listen more closely to God’s word. Today could be the day when you start turning your life around. One small step today, could be the first step in the adventure of your life.
This does not mean we ignore our shortcomings or failures. We acknowledge them, ask for forgiveness and try to learn from it. But, we don’t then tie them to our necks to weigh us down. Failures are inevitable, and their weight would be too much for anyone to bear. We don’t obsess over something we cannot change in the past, because the way we fix our past shortcomings is in our actions today.
God has seen your failures. God knows the shame you harbor in your heart. The disappointment at missed opportunities. The hurt caused by others and the world. But, you have been freed from yesterday. If you received forgiveness, God has taken over the responsibility of your shame. If you accept conviction, you will sacrifice the failures within yourself and try to learn and grow from it.
Close the door on yesterday. Don’t tie the anchor of yesterday around yourself and expect to swim. Every day is a new beginning.
“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”
– Isaiah 43: 19 (NIV)
Facing The Future
Your future is uncertain and maybe even very worrying. If the existential dread of your future is too much to bear, maybe try just surviving today. God give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11) And we will trust you with the rest.
“Anyone can carry his burden, however heavy, until nightfall. Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, until the sun goes down. And this is all that life really means.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
Worrying doesn’t work. We hamper ourselves with worry and most of the things we worry about don’t even come to pass.
“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.”
– Michel de Montaigne
And if misfortune strikes and our lives start to break apart. Worrying doesn’t do anything, but prevent us from taking action and building back the kingdom of God.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
– Matthew 6: 26- 27 (NIV)
“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere”
– Glenn Turner
The potential of the future is infinite, and we have a part to play in God’s story. But we can’t focus on the future we can’t see. Our task is in today, and we need to live that out fully. We want to see our whole life laid out for us. We want to see and approve of God’s plan for our lives beforehand. But our task is to trust and follow God. Allowing Him to lead us into a greater future than we could conceive of.
“Keep Thou my feet;
I do not ask to see
The distant scene;
one step enough for me.”
Conclusion
If you narrow your focus to just today, maybe you can start doing something about today. Maybe the horizon of today is just bearable enough for you to try and make today better. To try and make yourself better for today. And then maybe you will be just a little bit better off tomorrow and next week. Narrow your focus to today, and chase today with all your heart, then your todays will start to build on each other. And your tomorrows will be infinitely brighter. All future potential, begins in the borders of today. The forests of tomorrow, are the saplings of today. Today’s beginner, is tomorrow’s master.
John
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This is what I want to strive for… one day at a time dear Lord!
This was really helpful. Was very meaningful and definitely changed my perspective.
Love the last line: Today’s beginner, is tomorrow’s master.
Thank you for shedding new light on this topic and for this reminder John. Such true words and something I need to focus on.
Amen!! 🙏🏻
Dit was n mooi aan een gesit die manier hoe jy se dat net die Here kan weet wat more gaan gebeur en dat ons op vandag net moet focus en ek like waar jy se
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
So true and meaningful