“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

It is clear from the gospels that Jesus understood humanity.  He was fully aware of our failings and flaws and into this world of imperfection He spoke words both compassionate and confrontational.  If we want to be fully present in the lives God has given us, we need to soak in the truth of this passage.

Worry, fear, anxiety and doubt all arise from a lack of trust or misplacing our trust.  Christ is reorienting our view to the one who is worthy of our trust.  He asks us to give up what if-ing our life to death and take hold of the truth that God will take care of us.

If we want to live life abundantly, we need to be about today.  When we exert our emotions and will to grasp for control what has not happened yet, we enter into a cycle of frustration and disappointment.  We can feel like the universe is out to wreck our plans, or even think that God is punishing us when things don’t go our way.  What if instead of trying to control the future, we worked on being prepared for the day we haven’t passed through yet?  What if rejected the idea of things going our way and partnered with God in seeing things go His way?

This isn’t about getting rid of your calendar, or not setting goals.  This is about having a different attitude in how you get to tomorrow.  When you are confidently giving all you have to today you avoid the regret and feelings of failure that worry, anxiety, doubt and fear leave in their wake.  When you step into each day available to the will of God, you become a tool in the Master’s hand, perfectly fit for His work in you and the world.  When you are rooted in the truth of His love

In the world of addiction recovery there is a saying that seems appropriate for this passage: One day at a time.  The reality is that we are all addicts – recovering sinners, if you will.  We have been set free, but we have a hard time living like we are no longer slaves to sin.  It is easy to fall back into the mentality that we know better what our future holds than the one who created time.

Jesus wants us to take one day at a time on our road to becoming like Him.  He wants us in that place between “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” (Philippians 3:13)  He wants us living in today.

I don’t want to be spread out over days, weeks and months.  I don’t want to feel thinned out by the ticking hands of a clock stretching me beyond the moment that God has prepared. I want to be a man about the business of today.

Prayer for this week:

Lord, help me to be about your work each day.  Let me live in the space between what has been and what will be with integrity and purpose.  Help me be fully present in my life with you, my family, friends and those you bring across my path.  Amen.