Do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. (Matthew6:34AMPC)
Before we moved into our house in Greenville, we worried a lot because there was no door at the top of the basement stairs─just a short hallway between the landing and the open doorway into the kitchen. We were sure cold air from the basement would creep up the steps, making the kitchen chilly in the winter. Over and over we discussed different options to take care of this potential problem. Or maybe it just seemed like over and over because I thought so much about it, trying to come up with solutions.
When we moved into our home two and a half months later, we discovered that the lack of a door at the top of the basement 
steps wasn’t a problem at all. The register in the kitchen, a direct run from the basement, was the best in the house, and our grandson, Connor, often went there to get warm on winter mornings! None of the solutions we’d discussed were necessary. We’d spent all that time and energy trying to fix a problem that never materialized.
The other day as I fretted and stewed about a situation over which I have no control and the problems to which it might lead, I remembered the no-kitchen-door scenario. Having now lived in this house for six years, I shook my head at how much time and energy we’d wasted on something that might be a problem. Matthew 6:34 came to mind…today has enough of its own problems without worrying about the ones that might come tomorrow.
The next day my daily calendar contained this wisdom:
Beloved, you will never find security by trying to anticipate all the storms that may reach you someday. Remember that I control the atmosphere of your life. Trust Me by relaxing and releasing your concerns into My capable care. It saddens Me to see you obsessing about possible problems, rather than bringing these matters to Me. When you find yourself anxiously scanning the horizon of your life, use that as a reminder to seek My face…
Instead of wasting time worrying, devote that time to developing close friendship with Me…Ask me to lift your perspective from a problem-focus to a Presence-focus. Remember that I am holding you by your right hand. I guide you with My counsel, based on eternal wisdom; so there’s no need to worry about the future…Your best refuge in life’s storms is close friendship with Me. (Dear Jesus by Sarah Young)
The present conditions in our country–the pandemic, the rioting and racial unrest, the election–make it seem impossible NOT to worry about tomorrow. In times like these, we need a minute by minute decision to trust. Those words remind me of a song made popular by George Beverly Shea:
In times like these you need a Savior,
In times like these you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
This Rock is Jesus, Yes He’s the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
So here’s my prayer for today─feel free to make it your own: Father, lift my perspective from a problem-focus to a Presence-focus. Help me keep my eyes fixed on you, rather than peering into the distance looking for potential problems. Enable me to put my trust in you for whatever tomorrow brings. Amen.
Updated November 4, 2020