Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
—Matthew 6:34
Many Bibles put the heading “Do Not Worry” over the final ten verses of Matthew chapter 6. And rightly so. We’re all preoccupied with worrying over any number of things, our food, our clothing, our bodies, our tomorrows. But Jesus reminds us in these verses that our God in heaven already knows our needs.
Let me give you a word of counsel before we go further. Take a moment and slowly, and I mean s-l-o-w-l-y, read all ten of those verses. Even if you’ve known them for years, read them as if for the first time. Imagine Jesus speaking them to you, personally, in a calm and reassuring tone. It will calm you. It will give you perspective and priority for your life. Mark them in your Bible so you can return to them quickly, again and again, and most of all, put them in your heart.
Now look at how the passage lands, in verse 34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Jesus is not pretending trouble doesn’t exist; He plainly says each day has its own. He’s simply telling us not to drag tomorrow’s trouble into today.
Think about how much of our worry is exactly that, borrowing trouble from a tomorrow that may never come the way we fear. We lie awake rehearsing conversations that haven’t happened, bracing for diagnoses we haven’t received, bankrupting today’s peace to pay for a tomorrow that isn’t even here yet. Worry is paying interest on a debt you may never owe.
And notice where verse 33 sits, right before this. After laying out the sheer futility of worrying, Jesus assures us that our heavenly Father understands our requirements, and then He tells us what to do instead of worrying: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Verse 34’s “don’t worry about tomorrow” only works because verse 33 has already handed tomorrow to God.
This is the difference between the person who seeks the kingdom first and the person who doesn’t. It’s not that the believer has fewer troubles. It’s that the believer has Someone to carry tomorrow’s trouble, so today can be lived in peace. You were never designed to carry a whole lifetime of what-ifs on a single day’s strength.
So, here’s a practical way to live this out. Tackle today’s trouble with today’s grace, and leave tomorrow’s trouble for tomorrow, where God’s grace will be waiting for you when you arrive. He has promised strength for each day as it comes, not a stockpile for all the days at once.
Don’t let tomorrow steal today. Seek the kingdom first, hand your tomorrows to the Father who already holds them, and let today’s trouble be enough for today.
DON’T DRAG TOMORROW’S TROUBLE INTO TODAY. SEEK THE KINGDOM FIRST AND LET TODAY’S GRACE BE ENOUGH FOR TODAY.
