One of the lessons I’ve learned in life is to take things one day at a time. Life can be tough sometimes, and it’s easy to lose ourselves in our despair when we fall down, especially when we’re nearing the end of the pit, but there is really only one place to go once we reach the bottom: up, up, and away!
Sometimes what gets us to that point of feeling despair is worrying too much. In His Word, God advises us to not worry:
“Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
He doesn’t just say it once, either.
“That is why I say to you, don’t worry about living—wondering what you are going to eat or drink, or what you are going to wear. Surely life is more important than food, and the body more important than the clothes you wear. Look at the birds in the sky. They never sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you much more valuable to him than they are? Can any of you, however much he worries, make himself an inch taller? And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the wild flowers grow. They neither work nor weave, but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was never arrayed like one of these! Now if God so clothes the flowers of the field, which are alive today and burnt in the stove tomorrow, is he not much more likely to clothe you, you ‘little-faiths’?
“So don’t worry and don’t keep saying, ‘What shall we eat, what shall we drink or what shall we wear?! That is what pagans are always looking for; your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your heart on the kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course.
“Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.”
Matthew 6:25-34, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
There’s definitely a theme happening here…
Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
What about when people hurt you, and put you down? It’s human nature to want to retaliate, but that is not God’s way either. No matter how big or small the offence is, we should always be kind and loving, and let God be the judge, because He is the only one who can be an honest, true, and just judge. Basically, Do good, even if you suffer for it – you will be blessed by Him, and that’s all that really matters in this life. As Christians, we desire to please our Father in Heaven, and we feel a need to make Him proud of us – in the same way that children want to make their parents proud, but we have to remember that God’s ways our not human being’s ways because we are flawed. He, however, is perfect, and we should always be striving to be more like Him, no matter what the cost to our pride.
After all, who in the ordinary way is likely to injure you for being enthusiastic for good? And if it should happen that you suffer “for righteousness’ sake”, that is a privilege. You need neither fear their threats nor worry about them; simply concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ in your hearts. Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you. Make sure that your conscience is perfectly clear, so that if men should speak slanderously of you as rogues they may come to feel ashamed of themselves for libelling your good Christian behaviour.
1 Peter 3:13-16, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and in both the Old and New Testaments, there are verses that remind us to not worry and to trust that God will help us, He will provide for us. We simply need to have faith that He will do so, and He will – he always keeps His promises! He is the Way Maker, the Creator of all things!
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18-19, English Standard Version (ESV)
“Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.”
Matthew 6:34, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
“I tell you, as friends of mine, that you need not be afraid of those who can kill the body, but afterwards cannot do anything more. I will show you the only one you need to fear—the one who, after he has killed, has the power to throw you into destruction! Yes, I tell you, it is right to stand in awe of him. The market-price of five sparrows is two farthings, isn’t it? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, the very hairs of your heads are all numbered! Don’t be afraid, then; you are worth more than a great many sparrows! I tell you that every man who publicly acknowledges me, I, the Son of Man, will acknowledge in the presence of the angels of God. But the man who publicly disowns me will find himself disowned before the angels of God!”
Luke 12:4-9, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
No matter how dark life gets, how hard things get, we must always hold on and not lose our faith. We must not be overly focused on the past or future, but rather on the present, and the best way to do that is to take life One Day At A Time.