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

Hmmm.

So, let me get this straight. Jesus is saying we are going to have enough trouble every day? And this is supposed to be encouraging?

Hmmm. What am I missing?

Let’s unpack this.

Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. You see, Jesus knows something worriers don’t know: what we worry about rarely happens.

Research has shown that when we worry, our brains automatically go to worst case scenarios. That’s our default mode. Unless we learn how to train our minds to think rationally, think in a way that honors God, our thoughts will betray us.

• When a teen misses their curfew, we think, “Oh, no! They must have gotten into an accident!”
• When our girlfriend/boyfriend doesn’t immediately return our phone call or text, our brains think of the worst case scenario.

What we worry about rarely happens. Thank God for that!!!

So, Jesus tells us. Chill out. Don’t worry about worst case scenarios for tomorrow. You are wasting your time and energy on something that’s not going to happen.

What a waste of time and effort. Stop.

Deal with what’s right before you. Deal with today.

The decisions you make today will impact what your tomorrow will look like. So, choose wisely today. Deal with today.

Stop wasting your time and energy on what rarely happens. Focus on what you need to do right now, on this day, so that you can have the future that you desire.

That’s good news. Choose wisely today.

“For no word of God will ever fail” (Luke 1:37).

Read that again.

Let the truth of these words sink in.

“For no word of God will ever fail.”

Wow!

Everything God has ever promised, ever uttered, every single letter in the Bible, will never fail.

If that doesn’t motivate you to get into God’s word and to study it, nothing will.

The thing is, God loves you. God could not imagine a world without you in it. So God created this world and when sin wrecked God’s creation. God sent his only Son to die for you so that you can take your place in God’s eternity. For God’s eternity is incomplete without you in it.

God absolutely loves you.

So, whatever it is you are going through today, you are not alone. God is with you. God loves you. God has a plan for you.

Seek God’s plan. They are all there in the written word.

“Those who wait in the LORD will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

Isaiah 40 is one of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible. It is one of the most hope-filled chapters in all of the scriptures.

The NIV translation says, “Those who hope in the the LORD will renew their strength,” but the Hebrew word is, “qavah,” which means to “wait.” Wait is the proper translation. I think what the NIV translators were saying is that those who wait are those who hope. I get that, but I wish they would have left the translation as “wait.”

How can one live in God’s strength today? Great question. Let’s find out!

First, the key to living in God’s strength is to wait.

Wait? I don’t get it.

What’s waiting got to do with living in God’s strength? The first truth about living in God’s strength has to do with our attitude and posture.

• You see, the word wait here is best translated by an old English term “tarry.”
• To tarry means to eagerly long for.
• We turn to God and eagerly seek, long, yearn, tarry for God because we know that strength is not in us. We are seeking a strength which is not in us.

Secondly, we aren’t waiting for waiting’s sake. We are waiting for the LORD.

• We wait, long, yearn, and tarry for the LORD because he is the source of strength.
• When is the last time you were intentional about carving out time to wait on God? Is there a time slot in your day where you are free from activity so that you can devote your entire attention on God?
• When is the last time you waited, longed, yearned, and tarried for the LORD like that?
• Perhaps that is part of the reason why we so rarely experience the strength of the LORD.

Finally, carve out a time every day to seek the LORD, to wait, long, yearn, and tarry for the LORD.

Those who do so, “shall soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).