Enough for Today

How many times have I read this verse? Oh I don’t know, probably 1,000s of times. That’s the problem with familiarity, it causes us to glaze over when presented with simple truths and profound words.
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I’m not one who is typically prone to worry or anxiety. But, I am a future-oriented person who wants to plan with certainty. I think that’s the hardest thing to wrap my head around during the messy middle we find ourselves in right now. We’re not in the scary beginning or the relieving end; we are in the uncertain, question-filled messy middle of crisis. The middle is always the longest part of any story, and unlike many stories that are easy to predict, this one is highly unpredictable. Will we actually get to go to the beach this summer? Will my relationship with my kids and husband survive a summer of nothing? Will the kids actually go back to school in the fall or am I now a homeschool mom? When will we get to see grandparents and cousins again? Will I ever have creative space (ie alone time) to write again? Will I ever be able to launch a consulting business in these uncertain financial times?
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The questions are unending. But, Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 are as true now as when he spoke them 1,000s of years ago. He compels me to not worry today about all the questions with no obvious answers. Today has enough trouble of it’s own. The call is to stay present. He knows the future. I don’t. What I do know is today, what is currently before me. He has my future, he has my kids’ future, and he has my work’s future in his hands. How do I know? His words earlier in chapter 6 tell me so.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:25-33 (NRSV)
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Today’s trouble is enough for today.