Don't Worry Be Faithful

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34 NIV)

There’s a lot going on in America and the world that has me deeply worried. I was telling a friend that I really don’t want to live through an economic depression or a war or an authoritarian government. War is far away until it’s not—just ask Ukraine.

My friend replied, “You’re thinking about the bad things without knowing what God’s grace would be in that situation. But we as humans can’t predict what his grace would be, thus we are thinking ahead and seeing only bad. Of course we don’t want that!”

What is worrying? It’s when you imagine the future and feel stress or concern about it now. Thinking about the future isn’t wrong by itself; we are wise to see if we can take steps in the present to improve future outcomes. But if, after we’ve done all we can do to prepare wisely, we still focus on the negative, thereby making our present miserable as well—that’s worrying.

I admit, however, that Jesus’ command has always struck me as easier said than done. Of course I know I shouldn’t worry, but how do I stop?

I have to remember that I have incomplete information. No matter what the future holds, God will also put good things there. Just because I don’t know what the good thing will be—can’t even imagine what it could be—doesn’t mean it won’t be there.

Clearly, bad things do happen. However, God will help us each day to get through that day. That’s one aspect of “give us this day our daily bread.” We don’t need grace for tomorrow, because we’re not there yet.

That’s still a struggle for me. I literally can’t imagine how I would be OK in, say, a war zone. That’s why we have to “live by faith and not by sight.” We can easily picture all the bad things, but the good things are greater than we can conceive of. Instead, I should focus on the past—specifically, times I’ve seen God work things out. Times that seemed awful but turned out better than I could hope for.

Because that’s vague, maybe an example will help, because I have seen it clearly work out once in my life. Before I met my husband, I was dating someone else. He was a truly decent guy, and when he ended the relationship (that sounds so much nicer than “dumped me”!), I was utterly heartbroken. But if I hadn’t had the experience of a good relationship with a guy who still wasn’t great for me, I would never have recognized how much better suited for me my now-husband is as a life partner. I really wish I could have avoided the heartbreak, but perhaps I couldn’t have learned that lesson any other way, at least not in a fallen world.

Though I don’t believe all suffering is for the purpose of teaching us, I do know that if something bad happens, God will meet us there and teach us in and through it.