Friday, January 2, 2009

Sufficient for the Day

Matthew 6:34~ “"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Up until this Christmas, I had never heard this verse in either the ESV or the KJV, which both use the word “sufficient”. Hearing this version of the verse gives it quite an amplified meaning from the NIV, which simply says, “each day has enough troubles of its own.”
First, let’s look at the word “sufficient”. The dictionary defines it as, “enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end”. In other words, no more is required. So, instead of this verse simply telling us to not “overload” on worry and anxiety, it’s actually telling us that God, in His infinite knowledge, has carefully measured out the amount of tribulations each of our days have, and, therefore, the amount of dwelling we should be doing on worrisome situations.
This, then, has rather far-reaching implications for worrying about the future. It would seem that, if this interpretation of the verse is correct, that when we worry about the future, we are throwing off the balance of trials that God has planned.
If the economic recession hasn’t yet hurt you financially, why are you dwelling on it right now? If you still have 3 more years of college left, why are you worrying about whether or not you’ll be able to find a job in your field after you graduate? If your test results haven’t come back yet, why are you fighting anxiety as you consider chemotherapy?
Certainly there will come a time when you are low on funds, out of work, or ill. But perhaps the time to think on these things is while they’re actually happening, and not a moment before. Perhaps anxiety in someone’s heart not only “weighs him down” (Proverbs 12:25), but, even worse, hinders the effectiveness of his handling of problems that need dealt with now.