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Sufficient for the Day Is Its
Own Trouble
< Matthew 6:34 >
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own
things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
The Lord said, “Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day
is its own trouble.” The biggest enemy to the righteous who live a life
of faith is worry. It is not even today’s worry, but worry for the future. To
us, the righteous, the worries about the future are from our shortcomings and
weaknesses. Therefore, we may say, “This is who I am now, then, how can I not
worry about tomorrow?”
It is only natural that we worry when we look
at ourselves. However, if we see our shortcomings of today and look at ourselves,
who do not seem to have the possibility of having any better futures, and predict
our future, we cannot but worry about it. And this can make us give up our life
of faith. This is because since we think that we know ourselves very well and
that there is no guarantee that the future will be better, so when there is
no hope, we come to fall on worries. And these worries wither away our faith
thoroughly and make us fall on the fatal worries―“Should I give up my
faith?”
However, our Lord says this. “Therefore do
not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” If we have anything lacks now, we face
it everyday for what lacks everyday. Tomorrow will worry about its own things,
and sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
What happens when we fall on worries by looking
at our weaknesses and shortcomings? Just as the small yeast makes the entire
bread rise up, to us humans, and even to the righteous, our hearts become covered
with the shade of worries.
There is no one without weakness. Everyone has
it. If we look at ourselves as 100, let’s consider that someone is worrying
about his present situation and about the future as the amount of 10 out of
100. Just 10 out of 100 is in problem, but the rest 90 is okay. However, because
of this 10, we have an illusion that we only have things that we need to worry
about. This 10% is overtaking the other 90% with the thought that we are lacking,
weak, always make mistakes, cannot do anything, and the future cannot really
be better. As a result, this makes us someone who cannot do anything, that is,
the enervated person.
However, in reality, our Lord said, “Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” What the Lord said here is: “Is there anything
you lack? If you have trouble today because of what lacks, it is enough trouble
and you do not have to worry about what is going to lack in the future. Do not
bring the troubles of the future into the present and suffer from then in anticipation.”
The Lord says that tomorrow will worry about its own things.
What is in this teaching? When we see our lives
as 100, if there is 10 out of 100 that worries us, we only need to be troubled
from that amount for the day. Of course, this does not mean that there will
be no worries in the future. This does not mean we do not have any area where
we are weak or lack. We all have that. However, if the weakness shows up, we
only need to be troubled from the very areas that the weaknesses show up for
the day. There is no reason why we need to bring up future worries into present
and worry now in anticipation. Our Lord is saying that we do not need to be
frustrated with ourselves, thinking that we are a crippled person, who cannot
do anything, and give up on ourselves because we are discouraged that we cannot
live a life of faith anymore.
You and I are righteous people. However, we are
not perfect in everything. Everyone has defects and weaknesses. When we first
experience it, when we are just born again, it is ok. Why? Because we have still
hope. It is ok because we have hope that it will change. But, as we live more
and more our lives of faith, it is not ok anymore. Just because we live a life
of faith, our flesh does not change. Even Paul could not say that he had no
shortcomings. Rather Paul said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver
me from this body of death?”(Romans 7:24) We can find that he also was in
his worries and weaknesses.
Therefore, when we find out about something that
worries us, we must not bring in what should be in the future and die from the
burden of worries. If we are going to be troubled because of some problems or
our weaknesses, we can be in trouble whenever it shows up rather than give up
the life of faith or die because we are lacking. This is the word of encouragement
from our Lord. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” We
can be bold by believing in this teaching.
We, the righteous are to live for God and His
righteousness. Even though we, the righteous have negative sides of our own,
our lives are beautiful when we are in union with God’s Church. We, the servants
of God also live for the Lord. We also have many shortcomings, worries, and
weak areas. However, as a result of that, do we just suffer from them, and cannot
move ahead? That is not so. We do stop worrying about them, and go ahead by
faith in His Word.
No matter how hard we try to hide our weakness,
we know that we cannot change ourselves, and, as a result, we can give up our
life of faith. That’s why our Lord said, “Why do you worry, Do not worry for
tomorrow. Do not worry in advance about what might possibly happen again tomorrow.
When such things happen, and suffer because of it, it is enough to suffer that
day.” We must not die today because of that, thinking that we do not have any
hope, or give up our life of faith as we carry the heavy burden of worries,
or grieve and lose our strength or die.
You and I all have weaknesses of the flesh. We
all have shortcomings. One day’s suffering is enough for the day and there is
no need to carry future suffering all at once and die. When we see perfectionists,
we sometimes see that they anticipate themselves in the future and give up the
path that they have not even been to. They look at themselves, count it like
this: “I am such a person. I am really not fit for the Lord’s work and Lord’s
Kingdom. And it is not in my nature to live a life of faith.” This 10% worries
can make them despair, and eventually quit their lives of faith, saying, “I
am not fit for it, so I am going to give up my life of faith.”
Therefore, you should know that this is the scheme
of the devil. Not to fall on such worries, the Lord said to us, “Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” Even though we are not perfect people in
our flesh, because Jesus has blotted out all our sins, all we have to do is
suffer from the present troubles from moment to moment. If there is something
that we really need to suffer, it is enough to suffer that day. Of course, we
sometimes cannot but feel desperate because the 10% worries overwhelm all the
rest 90% of our life of faith. But we must blow out the small flare of worries
before it burns out all our faith. We have to reaffirm that Jesus took all our
weaknesses and shortcomings along with our sins when He was baptized by John
the Baptist.
We must listen carefully what the Bible says in
Matthew 6:34. Every one of us, the righteous, who thinks deeply about himself
must listen carefully to this Lord’s teaching. We must listen carefully to what
Jesus says about not to worry about tomorrow. There must not be such a thing
as looking at himself for tomorrow, worrying about it and giving up his life
of faith. If we lack today, we suffer a little today, and if there is something
tomorrow that lacks, suffer a little more tomorrow. We must not be like a perfectionist,
who thinks “Oh, no. It’s impossible for me to follow Jesus,” and kill himself
just as Judas did, and become foolish Christians or God’s workers. Do you understand
what I am saying?
In reality, are there areas where you worry about
the future and tomorrow? Yes, surely there are. The biggest one might be looking
at ourselves and worrying about it. Because we are people, and especially the
righteous ones among them, we worry much. If we worry about tomorrow, we die
spiritually. We die now. Dying today without even having lived tomorrow is truly
foolish.
What stumbles our faith is the worries for the
world. It is worrying about tomorrow. It is the worries that we do alone hiding
in our hearts and not telling anyone. The worries about our own today’s weaknesses
and shortcomings, and possible repeats of them tomorrow make us collapse down.
Are we going to carry it alone and die alone, saying “I cannot tell anyone about
this”? That’s not the will of God.
As in the Pilgrim’s Progress that is about going
toward the Kingdom of God, we are the pilgrims. Peter also called the saints
“as sojourners and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11). We are the pilgrims and
travelers to the Kingdom, who live in this world as the wind that passes by.
A traveler suffers moment-to-moment and day-to-day troubles. We cannot be travelers
if want to worry about ‘where am I going to sleep, where am I going to rest.’
It is not wise if we bring our suffering up in advance and suffer them all at
once and die. We must shout out in our heart, “Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day
is its own trouble.”
We have to confess in faith, saying, “It is true.
Our Lord’s teaching is true. It is so. Our Lord taught me that when suffering
comes, I just have to face it day to day and it is not wise to bring up future
suffering and suffer it now in advance. Truly just as the Lord’s teaching, I
suffer my sufferings day to day, and if God allows any trouble to me, and I
just suffer it on the day that He allows it.”
We do not know what happens tomorrow, and do not
know how hard it will be with how big of a shortcoming will be exposed. Worries
may rise day to day, but I hope you not stand against the Lord’s will because
of such worries. We, the righteous people live by the Lord’s will at least 90%.
It is only about 10% that we are buried in our own weaknesses. Everyone is buried
in his weakness about that much anyway. Therefore, we should not be killed as
a result of that. We should not kill ourselves because of that, either. It is
written, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Are you
sure that it is sufficient for you to suffer just today’s trouble? Yes, we are.
Dear fellow Christians, do you have suffering?
Do you have worries? ―Yes.― If we have sufferings today, we just
suffer it today. Then it is over. Tomorrow is a new day. I say this to all the
saints and the male and female servants of God: The Lord has told us, “Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” What great truth is this? How precious
this admonition is!
If our Lord has not said this, we will be bound
with our present weaknesses and even die from the overwhelming worries by anticipating
our weaknesses of the future, saying, “I must do the same thing in the future.”
This is the same pessimism that Judas Iscariot had. Judas was remorseful seeing
that Jesus had been condemned, and then he threw down the thirty pieces of silver
in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself, saying, “I am a person
who should die like this.” Did he seem conscientious by that? No. That is not
the will of our Lord.
Killing yourselves to take responsibility for
what you have done is not the only way to obey before the Lord. “Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” Our life is troublesome and imperfect.
Such is our life. If we must suffer because we are not perfect, then we can
suffer for the moment when our imperfection shows up. I hope you do not become
those suffer in advance and die, or give up your faith today for your fear of
future.
We must not be the masters of ourselves. The Lord
is the only Master of all of us. It is correct that the more we live a life
of faith, the more we feel our insufficiencies. However, we must not worry about
what would happen to us tomorrow. Tomorrow is tomorrow and now is now.
This is all I can tell you. If you understood
one thing, I believe my preaching was successful. This is why I always repeat
the same teaching again and again within a sermon.
Truly, we are those who cannot but die with all
our worries for tomorrow. You and I cannot but be such beings if we are only
in our fleshly thoughts. However, our Lord has saved us, who are like that,
with His Word of the water and the Spirit. And He admonishes us, “Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” Our Lord has saved us from our worries
and our imperfection. He saved you and me. Dear fellow Christians, is it not
right? ―Yes.―
Those who give up their life of faith look ahead
what would happen tomorrow and worry in advance and have given up their life
of faith. There is a great possibility that such people will increase. This
is why our Lord says this. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
We just have to suffer day to day. There is no one who does not have that
much suffering, and the Lord God has made us the righteous who can overcome
all the sufferings with faith. Whether the sufferings are from our own shortcomings,
or from the persecution the Lord allowed, we just have to suffer from them that
day and there is no reason why we need to worry about them in advance. This
is faith. Our Lord took over all our weaknesses. Our God not only has saved
us from all our sins, but also from all our worries. When we believe it and
follow the Lord, we feel that there is no worries, concerns, fear or grief at
all.
If we did not have this teaching today, there
is a great possibility that we will say, “Oh, I give up now. Oh I will die now!”
in our life of faith. When it is near the Lord’s coming, I am sure that we will
see many such people. It is because this time makes every one expose the more
shortcomings. Our worries increase because of the world is chaotic and it is
difficult to live, but you must not worry about tomorrow’s worries in advance
today and die today. I hope you become those who worry about tomorrow’s troubles
tomorrow. I also hope you believe that sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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Sufferings and worries do not last
forever. What last forever to us, who have received the remission
of sin is the Lord, the salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven. Worries
are temporary and do not last. Just as a day can be clear or cloudy
or rainy or sunny, we are not always of the flesh or of the spirit,
or always insufficient or always disobedient. Even though we are
insufficient, we are following the Lord’s will. Jesus had already
taken care of all our shortcomings. Therefore, I hope you live by
the faith in the Lord’s teaching. We thank the Lord for giving us
such a teaching so that we do not fall in our worries. How great
is this teaching to us, who are living in the last times, we are
truly thankful.
We have sufferings everyday, but one day’s suffering
is enough for that day, and we must live for the blessed work with the faith
that believes in God for what would happen tomorrow.
Halleluiah!
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