Are you obsessed with tomorrow? People assume that tomorrow will come. However, there is no guarantee that tomorrow will actually happen. Even if tomorrow does come, there is nothing that you can do to control the events of tomorrow or the impact they will have on your life. Yes, you can and should be responsible with the choices you make today. But there is no way to control or predict what will happen tomorrow. Still, thoughts of tomorrow dominate our plans, our thinking, our worries and our hopes.
Jesus puts tomorrow in proper perspective. Your well-being for today and the arrival of tomorrow is connected to the purpose and plan of God. Here is what Jesus says (Luke 12:25-26):
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Notice Jesus says we are unable to do a very little thing like adding an hour to our lives. Amazing. How much of the advertising agenda is consumed with doing just that? Influenced by Christ’s teaching and directed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James says (James 4:14-15):
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.
Tomorrow, understood in this light, should bring a sense of urgency about today. Since you and I don’t know if tomorrow will come, we must be focused on what brings honor to God today. This does not mean there is any uncertainty about tomorrow. There is none. What will happen tomorrow is certain in the purposes of God. So you can be certain that tomorrow will unfold just as God has determined. Beyond that, nothing else matters.
This frees you to seek God’s purposes (his kingdom) for your life today! That will include wise planning for tomorrow, but always with the understanding that tomorrow comes only if God has more for you to do. If the Lord has nothing for you to do tomorrow then tomorrow will not come. This is a sobering thought. All people live and breathe at the command and pleasure of God (See Acts 17:24-28).
This means that tomorrow is not yours to do with as you please. Tomorrow will come as God as planned. Encourage your children this reality. Help them to live for what matters today. This will free you from obsession about tomorrow.
The 24/7 news channels speak endlessly about what will happen tomorrow. But as long as they speak without acknowledging the purpose of God for today, they only add to the myth that people can control tomorrow. This myth increases anxiety, worry and fear.
Live as God has commanded. Seek his kingdom today.