Today Is the Tomorrow
You Worried About Yesterday

Today Is the Tomorrow
You Worried About Yesterday

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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Matthew 6:25
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Take no (Anxious) Thought

Are we settled to where we can get up in the morning without having our minds on the cares of this life; get up without thinking about what we're going to eat or drink, or about what we're going to wear?

People get anxious about the simplest things. Do you ever get anxious about what you're going to wear? "I've been standing in front of this closet for hours, and I still don't know what I'm going to wear!"

We have patterns in our thoughts. Maybe nobody else thinks the way we do, nobody else is bothered by the things that bother us; yet they are a care to us.

Let's remember that some things in life just have to be left in God's hands. So, take no thought for your life because your life is in His hands. He will fulfill His plan for your life in His time and in His way.

Let's think about the person who is going along filled with anxiety: "I know God told me to take no thought for tomorrow, but I don't know what I'm going to do! What does He want me to do?"

He's just telling us not to get in the realm of always thinking and thinking about our life.

Does it matter what we shall eat? Food is an essential part of our lives. It's not so much what we eat; it's that we do eat in order to live. It's like going to the gas station to keep our car running. If the car needs gas, we just go to the station and get some gas. And, in the same way, we have to have food to nourish the body. But do we have to worry about where it's coming from?

There's no need to get all taken up about whether or not we're going to have food. If we believe God and believe His Word, we won't have to worry about our food at all. When we are trusting God, He's not going to let us go thirsty, nor will He let us go hungry. All we need to do is trust Him, knowing He has promised to provide all our need.

But how easy it is to get anxious about things which God has already made provisions for.

God's Daily Benefits

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

Is food one of His daily benefits? Is water one of His benefits? Most of you don't even have to prime the pump or go outdoors to fetch your water; it's right in your house. All you have to do is turn the faucet.

I believe when God created the fowls and the animals, back in the beginning, He provided their food too. Look at the bugs: You see that bug on the leaf eating its lunch? It would take days and days to eat that whole leaf, but he gnaws just enough for the day and then he's on his way.

God also provided clothing for His creatures. When God made man, He didn't make him with a coat of fur. But when He made the dog, He made him with a coat to wear, and He provided food for him to eat. Look at how God uses people to feed most dogs today.

What about us? Does God provide for us? Does He provide our clothing? our food? our drink?

When God made man, didn't He provide? Look back in Genesis and read how He provided food in the garden, how He made coats for Adam and Eve to wear when they tried to cover their nakedness with leaves.

Now, some of His creatures find food by eating each other. Even man finds food by eating some of the creatures God has made.

Genesis 9:3
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Did you ever eat fish? Do you like a nice, juicy hamburger? Did you ever look at all that meat in the market and wonder where it came from? Some farmer raised that beef, that ham, those chickens.

I Timothy 4:4,5
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.

Consider the Fowls of the Air

The fowls of the air don't sow nor reap. They don't do anything to provide food. All they have to do is go out and get what's there for them. And this is what God would want us to think like.

Luke 12:6,7
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

People can have a living relationship with God by receiving Christ as their Saviour and by entering into that personal relationship of the saved. That little sparrow doesn't have such a relationship. But they do have a relationship where God's eye is on them to care for them, to provide their food, even to take note when they fall to the ground and die. Are they anxious about what they're going to eat? Do they seem worried and fretful?

Matthew 6:26
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Aren't you better than the birds? That's a question that eliminates anxiety. The birds aren't called the children of God, yet God takes care of them.

Now, let us realize that God doesn't want us to worry about our food or our clothes. It will only get us into trouble if we go about worrying about where our next meal is coming from, or worrying about what we are going to wear.

What Does Worry Accomplish?

Matthew 6:27
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Which one of you can make yourselves taller merely by thinking? High heel shoes don't make you any taller. They make you appear taller but you're still the same height. It's what you're standing on that makes you seem taller.

A lot of people suffer from anxiety. You don't have to be facing a great mountain in your life to have anxiety. Why worry about something you have no control over? Listen, you don't want to allow anxiety to rule in your heart.

There's no need to have those anxious cares all the time. You can be free by learning to depend on God's faithfulness, placing your trust in Him. Yes, you can be delivered from anxieties by trusting in the Lord.

Consider the Lilies

Matthew 6:28-30
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Isn't it amazing how many clothes are put in the stores every day? There are more clothes in those large department stores, more different styles and types of clothing. Yet some wonder what they'll wear, wondering if they'll have clothes to put on their back tomorrow.

Take note of the beautiful flowers there are in this world. The lilies are just one of so many. Consider the wild flowers in the fields. They grow so abundantly and are clothed so colorfully, yet they did nothing to be so beautifully made.

Matthew 6:29
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Solomon was wealthy. He had the means to have anything he wanted. He could afford the finest of clothes to wear. Even his throne was overlaid in pure gold! But no matter what the tailors of the day were making for him, nothing was better than what God made for the lilies of the field to wear.

God is saying to you and me: "Why do you worry about such things? There is no need for you to worry how your basic needs are going to be provided. If I provide for the lilies of the field and for the sparrows of the air, how much more will I provide for you?"

Matthew 6:30
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Go for a ride in the country and see how God clothed the fields with soft green grass. Think about the miles of fields of grain that grow in the Midwest, as far as the eye can see. Go back after the harvest and it's all gone, on its way to the ovens where it will become bread, cake, biscuits and so many other delicious things. And some goes back into the ground where it will produce another harvest next year.

Why should we be so anxious about anything? The grass doesn't fail to produce for the harvest. There may have been times of drought, but God still provided for those who put their trust in Him. In our nation we have such an abundance, yet many are anxious about where their next meal will come from. We have such an abundance that there are many, many types of bread to choose from — even bread that has 12 different types of grain in it. Just imagine, 12 different types of grain in one loaf!

In the Scriptures, bread is kind of a symbol too: "Lord, give us our daily bread." That includes all of our daily food: not just bread, but our vegetables, fruit, milk, and everything else.

God wants us to learn that we can live a whole lot better if we aren't filled with anxieties over our day-to-day needs, aren't filled with anxieties over the cares of this life.

Some are carefree as that sparrow, but it's not that they're trusting God to provide their daily needs. It's that they couldn't care less about whether or not their family is taken care of, couldn't care less whether or not their home is falling down around them.

But those who are trusting in the Lord to provide have a godly care. It's not an anxious care, and it's not being carefree because they couldn't care less. It's being carefree, knowing the Lord will take care for them.

Living by Faith

Matthew 6:31
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Do we live that close to the Lord? Are we confident that He has everything under control, confident that He will take care to provide our daily needs? If we found ourselves in a day when we had no job, had no food in the cupboard, had no clothes in the closet, are we confident that God would provide?

We would find life simpler and easier if we lived by faith, trusting in the Lord, knowing He is faithful to His Word, knowing He will not fail.

A lot of folks have no idea what living by faith would be like. I'll give you a clue: It's like eating out of the hand of God. It's not like eating out of the garbage can; it's not like wearing rags. It is living out of the hand of God, Who has promised to supply our every need. When we live by faith, we're like the birds, content to take what God provides. It's not having everything we want, but it is having everything we need.

Listen, God is able to provide all of our needs. In fact, He has promised to provide all of our needs (see Philippians 4:19). Trust Him!

Matthew 6:32
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Our great heavenly Father, Who calls us His own, is faithful to provide our daily needs when we place our trust in Him. He knows we need a roof over our heads, we need to eat and drink, and we need clothes to wear. Yet some get anxious, wringing their hands, wondering if they will have what they need. It's this realm of cares that gets many people down.

Hey, God knows what you have need of, and He knows how to get bread to your house real quick. In fact, if He wanted to, He could send you a truck load of bread!

Whoever we are, all we need to do is trust God to provide, and He will. When we place our trust in Him for our daily needs, we can go about our day not worrying about it. We don't have to worry if we'll still have a job tomorrow; we don't have to worry if we'll have clothes to wear or food to eat.

We have to come to the place where we recognize that He knows what we need — and He knows what we need today.

God's Formula for Carefree Living

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Here's the formula: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness — seeking to walk with God in His righteousness. This is where we should set our hearts; this is the priority that should be in our lives: seeking Him first. We don't seek food; we seek God. We don't seek clothing; we seek His kingdom.

Psalm 27:4
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

Seek for the spiritual things: seeking after God and after His righteousness in our lives. Seek after Him, Who knows what we need, and He will provide.

But when we just dwell on our physical needs — food and clothing, what we're going to eat next, what we're going to wear tomorrow — when those things have priority, they become a care and will only cause problems, only add troubles.

God is telling us, "Here's the way: Seek Me and My righteousness, and I will add all these needs unto you."

Has God taken pretty good care of you? Do you have a job? Do you have a paycheck? Do you have the money to pay your rent, to buy your food?

"Oh, I have enough for basics, but if I had more money, then I could live higher off the hog and could have nicer things!"

Listen, be content to have that which you need. And if you don't have the money to pay for your needs, God is still able to provide.

Live in Today, Not Tomorrow

Matthew 6:34
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Here's where the bottom line is concerning our thoughts: Take no thought for tomorrow. Are you worrying about what tomorrow will bring? Are you worried about how you're going to get what you need tomorrow?

What's the big deal about tomorrow? What's the big thing in your life concerning tomorrow? Is anything there? Is there anything you're worrying about? Did you mow your nails today? Did you run them past your teeth in anxiety? You're not worrying; you're just eating your nails!

What are you worrying about? It's down this avenue that you can find yourself in trouble, taking a lot of thought for tomorrow.

Is it ever really tomorrow? As soon as the sun begins to show itself, it's today again. I got up today, not tomorrow. When I get up tomorrow morning, it's going to be today. So why worry about tomorrow? Live today, and let tomorrow care for itself. After all, you can't do anything about tomorrow until it comes, and then it is today.

Tomorrow will take care of tomorrow for you. Why worry about it? Tomorrow is not just the next day; it could be way down the road — something you've been waiting and waiting for.

If you're not careful, you get anxious and impatient. You get upset with God for not being fast enough. And, because you don't think He's quick enough, you begin to worry whether He ever will come on the scene. "If God doesn't soon move concerning that tomorrow I'm waiting for, I don't know what to do."

Don't take thought for tomorrow; it will take thought for the things of itself. Remember that the tomorrows of yesterday will become today.

Some things that are ahead in your tomorrows will have to be dealt with today. There may be a problem you need wisdom in handling; there may be something you need to straighten out, but that doesn't mean you should take thought for tomorrow by worrying.

Generally, we go through anxiety when we are worrying about tomorrow. We've got to realize that anxiety is unnecessary.

"I don't have anything in the refrigerator. There is nothing in the house to eat." That's what some say; but, in reality, they have enough in the house to feed half the dogs in the neighborhood.

God Takes Care for Tomorrow

Understand that living in the realm of faith and trust is being free from anxiety, knowing that the Lord is going to take care. The things of tomorrow? He'll handle those things.

Are you worried about anything concerning tomorrow? Tomorrow will take care of itself; sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

That's a strange saying: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. We're in a world where there are evil days, days filled with troubles and problems. But, no matter what, we should just trust that the sufficiency we need will be found in the Lord.

We're taught to be thankful for what He provides. Everyday when I sit down to eat, no matter how often I eat during the day, I thank God for what He has provided. Thanking Him is evidence of His supply. Yes, even in an evil day, He is faithful to provide sufficiently.

And, knowing that God's going to take care of tomorrow, we can rest in His faithfulness to provide.

Have you ever run out? Have you ever come to the place where there was nothing left to eat and where you didn't have any money to buy anything?

My wife and I saw such a day in our lives, but we didn't lack for food when it came to meal time. We didn't have anything in the house, but God provided.

Tomorrow is here today, and when it comes, it's going to be all right. We look at life and note it's always today. We have to go through today before tomorrow comes, and then it is no longer tomorrow but is now today.

God's Faithfulness is the Key

I'm thankful that the Lord is really interested in us, concerned to see that all of our needs are met (not all our wants, but all our needs). There are many needs in this life. Learning to trust the Lord is an experience that you can't understand unless you experience it for yourself.

My experience has been that I have repeatedly seen the faithfulness of God toward me and my family to supply all our needs. We've watched God many times and have seen His hand move for us; we've seen Him respond when we've earnestly prayed and sought Him. Yes, He is faithful and has always been there to answer.

This is the cure, then, for anxiety: trusting the Lord, believing the Lord. Tomorrow is not our trouble today. We don't have to worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself.

This is the idea we want to get out of this message: We don't have to worry about tomorrow. So many are always worrying about their tomorrows, whether God will provide or not.

It's a blessing to get past that state into the place where you believe God will do just as He said He would do. Simply trust Him, leaning on Him to take care of you. And He will because He is faithful to His Word.