by Tom Wacaster
Quite often Matthew 6:33 is used by preachers and teachers to stress the importance of dedication, commitment, and priorities. It seems to me that all too often those quoting the passage have missed the full thrust of the passage due, in part, to a failure to see the verse in its context. The immediate context is Matthew 6:19-34. Jesus was addressing one of the most prominent manifestations of a lack of faith in God: anxiety. Anxiety, i.e worry, finds it’s root in undue concern over material things. Such arises out of an attempt to serve God and mammon, something Jesus tells us simply cannot be done: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). In spite of the warning, multitudes seem to think they can serve both, and their attempt to do so blinds them to the reality that they are actually sinning against God because they do not trust God to keep His promises. In spite of what some might claim, the unanimous testimony of those who have served God faithfully is that God can and should be trusted—completely, whole heartedly, and without any reservation whatsoever. The problem arises when men fail to understand the nature of God’s promises. God has never promised that when we become a Christian that we will be sheltered from pain, sorrow and sickness. Neither has He promised exemption from trials, tribulation, or persecution. I like the way one brother put it: “Christianity’s design is not to make it easier for man to live physically, but to make it possible for him to live spiritually” (Larry Fluitt). God has not promised riches, abundance, a life of ease, or an over-abundance of material wealth. We are promised that we will have enough material provisions to live. Is that not the very essence of the promise in Matthew 6:33? God has promised wisdom to know right from wrong, a way of escape to avoid the pitfalls of temptation, peace when we are troubled, and pardon when we sin. Once I grasp the reality of those promises, and trust in God to be faithful in that regard, the anxiety that grips the world and keeps them in the bonds of misery, having no hope or peace, will not have control over me.
You have heard it before. There are two days in every week about which we should not worry; two carefree days that are guarded and over which I should place a sentinel that will not allow worry and apprehension to enter in. The first of these is yesterday. All of us have had those days we wish we could recall. Our words and/or actions were not only wrong, but harmful to those we love; and we wish we could just go back and undo all the harm done in those moments when we failed to rely on God’s word. Unfortunately, life does not provide us with a reverse gear. Yesterday is gone. Don’t worry about it; seek forgiveness and do what you can to improve yourself and learn from the mistakes you made.
The second day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with all of its hopes, promises and uncertainties. Someone once pointed out that tomorrow is just as far beyond our mastery as is yesterday. No man has the ability to gaze into a crystal ball and tell the future. The palm readers, necromancers, and prognosticators who claim some special window that allows them to see what will unfold in the days, weeks, months or years, are all frauds; con-artists who prey upon the emotions of those who do worry about tomorrow.
This leaves one day! Today! Today God gives us the strength to make it through the day. It is possible to live a godly life—TODAY! To take advantage of the opportunities—TODAY! God promised to Israel of old, “as thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deut. 33:25). Jesus tells us that it is senseless to worry about tomorrow because “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matt. 6:34b). Glen Campbell recorded a beautiful song titled, “Today is Mine.”
When the sun came up this morning,
I took the time to watch it rise;
And as its beauty struck the darkness from the sky,
I thought how small and unimportant
All my troubles seem to be
And how lucky another day belongs to me.
And as the sleepy world around me
Woke up to greet the day
All its silent beauties seemed to say:
So what my friend
If all your dreams you have and realized;
Just look around you—you got a whole new day to try!
Today is mine, today is mine, to do with what I will;
Today is mine - my own special cup to fill;
To die a little that I might learn to live,
To take from life that I might learn to give
Today is mine...
Like most men I cursed the present
To avoid the peace of mind;
And raise my thoughts beyond tomorrow
And vision there more peace of mind.
But as I view this day around me
I can see the fool I've been
For today's the only garden we can tend
Today is mine…
I will be the first to readily admit that my life has not been completely anxious free. But the older I get, the more I realize the futility of worry and the wonderful peace of mind that comes with trusting God, walking by His word, and, as Paul emphasized, “forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before” (Phil. 3:13).
Some years ago (1986 to be precise) I filed this beautiful poem away for later use. It is a fitting close to this week’s column:
Passing Through
“When thou passest thro’ the waters,”
Deep the waves my be, and cold.
But Jehovah is our refuge
And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself hath said it,
He the faithful God and true;
“When thou comest to the waters,
Thou shalt not go down, but thro”
Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,
Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain.
Rolling surges of temptation,
Sweeping over heart and brain.
They shall never overflow us,
For we know His word is true;
All His waves and His billows
He will lead us safely through.
Threatening breakers of destruction,
Doubt’s insidious undertow,
Shall not sink us, shall not drag us
Out to ocean depths of woe.
For His promise shall sustain us,
Praise the Lord, whose word is true!
We shall not go down or under,
He hath said, “Thou passest thro!”
(by Annie Johnson Flint)