Live Today Well
I’d done it again. I woke up Monday morning, and before my feet hit the floor, I’d already worried about what house we should live in next, how we would afford our future family, and what I’d have to do at work that week. My bedroom was peaceful and quiet, but my brain was so loud.
My anxiety was real. My disappointment in myself was also real, because I’ve stressed about all these hypotheticals before. I thought I’d worked through them, but here they were, again. I couldn’t help but wonder, why do I worry like a broken record?
The answer to this question looks different for all of us. We can trust God and still find medicine or therapy helpful, even necessary. We can trust God and have to accept that we’ll face anxiety at some level until Jesus comes again. But for myself and this particular thought pattern, my answer looked like a perspective shift.
I reopened my Bible to Matthew 6. If you run anxious, you’ve probably read Matthew 6:25-34 a dozen times too. It’s a beautiful passage about God feeding the birds, clothing wildflowers, and promising that He will do even more for us as His beloved children. As I reread it this time, verse 34 jumped out at me:
“Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
And, as my eyes wandered around the page at Jesus’ other teachings, Matthew 6:11 had something similar to say: “Give us today our daily bread.”
I realized the anxieties I woke up to Monday morning aren’t rooted in my present. They don’t come to mind when I think about today, or even tomorrow. It’s when I try to account for next week’s problems, or two years from now, even 10 years down the road that I start to feel so overwhelmed. And no wonder!
“Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Jesus is being countercultural here. In a world that often equates control and security, Jesus teaches us that it isn’t irresponsible to walk through life one day at a time; it’s actually encouraged.
Don’t get me wrong: there are still times where it’s appropriate to prepare for the future. Sometimes it’s wise to start a project early or book a discounted plane ticket. Because of God’s sovereignty and goodness, we can look ahead with confidence and peace.
At the same time, Jesus is warning us against the future becoming our present obsession. We don’t have to figure out the future to address our present anxieties. When we trust God’s provision for us, we can simply focus on living today well.
Living today well means faithfully responding to God in the present moment instead of living in hypothetical futures. If living today well means responding faithfully, what does that actually look like? Here’s three simple ways we can stay in step with Him:
Abide in His presence (John 15:4-6)
God is present with you right now, in every moment of every day. If we’re not careful, we can miss it. We can miss what He might be trying to teach us or say to us in this season, right where we are. The opposite of missing God’s presence is abiding in it, or remaining dependent on Him by reading scripture, sharing our testimonies with others, and thanking Him for the fruit He’s producing in our lives. Through abiding, we can experience God’s trustworthiness for ourselves and be expectant of His presence in our future.
Pray throughout the day (Philippians 4:6-7)
It’s easy to believe that our ordinary, everyday lives aren’t worth God’s attention, but Philippians 4 invites us to tell God everything through prayer. He wants it all: our worries, our emotions, our to-do list, even what made us laugh that day. He delights in us! Philippians 4:7 also promises us that God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds when we share our thoughts with Him. When we talk to God and live from His peace, we don’t have to carry our anxieties ourselves anymore. We’re empowered by His endurance to live today well.
Remember your hope (Luke 10:41-42)
A typical Thursday doesn’t always sound exciting, but we can still live it well if our intention is to make much of Jesus. Like Luke 10 shows us, we can cook a meal for our family as an anxious perfectionist, or as an act of sacrificial worship to the Lord. We can engage a coworker with lunchtime gossip, or tell them how Jesus is showing up in this season. What we do in a day matters, but how we do it often matters even more. When it comes to our intention, we can choose the better portion. We can devote our days to our ultimate hope in Jesus, and let His glory touch everything we’re already doing.
As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6, there’s immense beauty in today. His presence and mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). In Him, we’re free to take a break from tomorrow’s question marks and spend today with Jesus, offering the big stuff and the little stuff to His guidance. Let’s live today well.
