The Unhurried Way

“Give us this day our daily bread.” — Matthew 6:11

Over the last two days, we have considered what it means to remain faithful when doing the right thing becomes difficult and what it means to trust that nothing in our lives falls outside the hands of God. Those truths are comforting, but eventually they have to meet us in ordinary life, especially on the days when several problems arrive at once and we have no idea how we are going to handle all of them.

When life becomes overwhelming, separate troubles have a way of joining together in our minds. A financial concern becomes tangled with a problem at work. Something breaks at home while someone we love needs our attention. An uncertain future attaches itself to today’s disappointment, and before long we are no longer dealing with individual problems. We are carrying our entire lives at once.

This is often when our minds begin traveling into days that have not arrived. We calculate what might happen next week, imagine what could go wrong next month, rehearse conversations that have not taken place, and try to solve problems whose circumstances may change before we ever reach them.

Jesus taught us another way to live.

When He taught His disciples to pray, He included the simple request, “Give us this day our daily bread.” There is a remarkable amount of trust contained in those few words. We are asking God to provide what is needed for the day He has actually given us rather than demanding enough certainty to make tomorrow feel safe.

Daily bread is more than food. It is the recognition of our dependence upon God for what each day requires. We need provision, certainly, but we also need wisdom for decisions, patience with difficult people, strength for responsibilities, courage when we are afraid, and grace for circumstances we never expected to face.

We need what God knows this day will require.

This does not mean we should never plan ahead. Scripture praises wisdom, preparation, diligence, and good stewardship. There is a difference, however, between preparing responsibly for tomorrow and attempting to carry tomorrow before it arrives. Planning asks, What can I wisely do today? Worry tries to make us responsible for controlling what happens next.

Jesus addresses this later in the same chapter when He says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” — Matthew 6:34

Tomorrow already belongs to the God we trusted yesterday.

If we believe that nothing is outside His sovereignty, then we do not have to secure every possible outcome before we can rest. We can take responsibility for what God has placed before us while leaving what has not yet happened in His hands.

Perhaps, then, the question on an overwhelming day is not, How am I going to fix everything? but, Lord, what have You given me to do today?

The answer may be surprisingly ordinary. Make the necessary phone call. Go to work. Care for someone who needs you. Pay the bill that is due. Prepare dinner. Finish the task in front of you. Rest when the day’s work is finished. Pray about what you cannot change and resist the temptation to drag tomorrow into today.

Living this way does not make our problems disappear. It places them in their proper time and reminds us who ultimately holds them.

God already knows what tomorrow contains. When tomorrow becomes today, we can ask Him for that day’s bread too.

Until then, today’s portion is enough.

Prayer

Father, You know how easily I try to carry everything at once. I take today’s responsibilities and add tomorrow’s possibilities until the weight becomes more than I can bear.

Teach me to live within the day You have given me. Give me wisdom to prepare responsibly without allowing preparation to become worry, and help me recognize which burdens actually belong to today.

Provide my daily bread: the provision I need, the strength to do what is required of me, the wisdom to make good decisions, the patience to endure difficulty, and the grace to trust You with what remains unfinished.

You already know what tomorrow holds. Help me leave it with You until it comes.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

For Today: Ask yourself, What has God actually given me to do today? Do that faithfully, ask Him for what you need to accomplish it, and allow tomorrow to remain in the hands of the One who is already there.