One Day at a Time

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

I'm retired now, but I used to get anxious on Sunday nights about the week ahead. I called it the "Sunday Blues"—that familiar knot in my stomach that would start around dinnertime, thinking about Monday's meetings, Tuesday's deadlines, Wednesday's presentation I wasn't ready for.

I'd sit at the dinner table with my family, but I wasn't really there. My mind was already in conference rooms and inbox battles that hadn't happened yet. I'd watch movies with friends on Sunday evening, but I was mentally rehearsing conversations and worrying about problems that might never materialize.

Looking back, I realize I let the Sunday Blues waste perfectly good Sunday nights with the people I love most. I was so busy borrowing anxiety from the future that I missed the grace available in the present moment.

Jesus understood this struggle completely. Worry is like trying to live in two places at once— we're attempting to be present today while also trying to manage a tomorrow that hasn't arrived yet. Part of us is here, but another part is frantically planning for disasters that exist only in our imagination.

But notice Jesus's approach: he doesn't pretend tomorrow won't have challenges. He's refreshingly honest about it—"tomorrow will worry about itself." Problems will come. Difficulties are part of life. But tomorrow's troubles will arrive with tomorrow's grace, tomorrow's wisdom, and tomorrow's strength.

Today, however, has "enough trouble of its own." Not that today is miserable, but that today has enough real concerns, enough actual joys and responsibilities, enough present-moment opportunities to fully occupy our hearts and minds.

When we try to carry tomorrow's load on today's back, we're like someone packing for a trip by stuffing next week's clothes in today's suitcase. It doesn't make sense, and it makes today unnecessarily heavy.

I think about all those Sunday nights I missed because I was living in Monday. The conversations I half-heard because I was mentally composing emails. The laughter I didn't fully enjoy because I was rehearsing problems that mostly never happened anyway.

God gives us exactly what we need for each day, but he doesn't hand out advance portions. That would actually undermine our daily dependence on him, which is how trust grows deeper.

Planning responsibly for the future isn't the same as worrying about it. Jesus isn't advocating for irresponsibility. He's talking about the kind of anxiety that robs today of its joy without adding anything useful to tomorrow.

What would change if you really believed that today contains enough grace for today's challenges? What if you trusted that tomorrow's problems—if they even show up—will come with their own supply of wisdom and strength?

After all, you've never actually lived a day in the future. But you've made it through every single day that's already happened.

Maybe it's time to retire your own version of the Sunday Blues and show up fully for the people and moments that are actually here right now.

Prayer:

Father, help us trust you with the tomorrows we can't control while fully embracing the today you've given us. Teach us to receive each day's grace without trying to hoard what hasn't been offered yet. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Cliff McCartney.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location,