I don’t know about you, but when I read, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34 CSB), I think, “Well, that’s exactly what I was worried about with tomorrow!”
We think that because we forget what—or, even better, who—will also be there tomorrow: God. The God who gave us strength yesterday will supply us strength for tomorrow.
I don’t know about you, but in the midst of a global crisis, when I don’t have a clue what my tomorrow looks like, that’s good news.
God promises to give enough manna for the day. Manna was the daily provision of bread God gave the children of Israel when they were wandering foodless and homeless in the wilderness. He gave them some every day, but only enough for the day.
The way most of us want to deal with worry is to stockpile enough resources today so that we feel invulnerable tomorrow. That may have worked for some of us until a few weeks ago. Now, it’s not a viable strategy for almost anyone.
Fortunately, though, that’s never how God has worked. He’s never been opposed to planning and saving, but the peace he offers isn’t contingent on a rainy day fund. It’s always on offer, but it’s only on offer today.
Whatever challenges tomorrow holds, you can be confident that God will give you what you need in that moment. Tomorrow will have plenty of trouble—Jesus himself promised it—but a God greater than the trouble will be there, too.
In the middle of a pandemic, worry and despair are natural human reactions. And those emotions should drive us to Jesus. It’s reasonable to feel anxious about COVID-19. We are all going to have moments when the realities we hear about on the news—and increasingly, the ones we see all around us—will worry us. But when we feel that worry, we have a choice: Let it frame our narrative and push us away from God, or turn our anxieties to God in prayer, letting him graciously and patiently work on our soul.
God knows we’re anxious. And God knows why. The answer isn’t to pretend that the bad news of the world isn’t quite so bad. The answer is to remember that even in the midst of bad news, we have a God who is gracious and merciful, near to the broken-hearted, and always available to those who call on him.
“Jacob, why do you say, and, Israel, why do you assert: ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God’? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary … Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.”
– Isaiah 40:27–31
