March 4, 2020

I appreciate the Ziggy cartoon. Occasionally, he really makes me think. Such was the case on February 26 this year. He was looking at the March calendar and said, “Pondering the future can be overwhelming . . . fortunately, we only have to deal with it one day at a time.”

One extreme is to give so much thought – perhaps worry – to tomorrow that we do not enjoy today. Opposite to this is to give little or no consideration as to how our life today may bring consequences tomorrow that we could avoid. As with so much of our life experience, balance is important.

Pondering the future can be overwhelming because we know so little about it. Apparent good health today can be gone tomorrow. Anticipated harvests can be lost in minutes through changes in weather. Relationships can be so fragile as to seem to crash overnight.

If we become too caught up in the “what ifs” of tomorrow, we will miss the joy of what was intended for today. But it is important to remember that our decisions today will influence our opportunities in the future.

As I evaluate my life experience, I admit to a natural tendency to worry, which also leads to the attempt to make things happen instead of letting life follow the plan that God intended. This can be overwhelming and frustrating. So often, I have had to admit after the fact that situations would have worked out better if I had enjoyed the present and anticipated the future with faith.

When Jesus taught us to “take no thought for tomorrow because it will have enough trouble of its own,” He was not telling us to be careless, but rather to be confident that He can be trusted. That takes the “overwhelming” out of pondering the future.

Pastor Bill Ehmann