Don’t Worry… Be Happy
Choose Your Yoke – Part X
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:25-33 NLT
Key Verse: Matthew 6:27 NLT
“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
Reading Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:34, most of us probably struggle to see any encouragement in its message:
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Jesus is giving us more than one lesson in this verse.
First, Jesus tells us that allowing worry to fester in our minds can grow into taking tomorrow’s problems on as well as today’s. It is impossible to travel in time to tomorrow. Do not allow worry to remain in you; claim God’s promises and defeat it quickly.
Second, Jesus challenges us to learn how to live in the present. What would happen if we concern ourselves only about today? We would eliminate 90% of our worries.
We must learn to ask ourselves about today. Do I have food for today? Do I have enough money for today? Is my health okay for today?
Obviously, there are times in our lives when our answer would not be “yes” to all these kinds of questions. However, most of our worries are about what is happening in the future rather than what is happening today. Let’s learn the biblical perspective from Jesus and practice living each day without looking into our future.
The third lesson from Matthew 6:34 is that “today’s trouble is enough for today”. In other words, deal with today’s problems but do not add to them by allowing your thoughts to dwell on tomorrow’s problems.
Yes, there are times in our lives that we must manage the problems and trials of today. Look at today’s problems through a biblical lens rather than a worldly lens. This requires us to discipline our minds. It takes energy to resist the evil one’s temptations to worry about tomorrow. This is a battle for most of us. We can fight that battle if we live in the present and do not allow tomorrow’s worries to pile on to today’s problems.
We cannot get our minds off tomorrow’s problems by simply telling ourselves not to think about it. We must replace the negative thoughts with the truths of God’s Word. Memorize Matthew 6:34, even if it is just the first phrase: “So don’t worry about tomorrow.”
Keep repeating that over and over until you remove from your mind the worries of tomorrow. Do not cave to the temptation to worry, do not let the devil win… claim God’s word and defeat worry!
Father, with Your help I stand on Your words to defeat worry in my life. Help me live the abundant life that Jesus died to give me. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.