“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

Not long ago I retired from three decades of working at the same job. I faced a new season of unknowns and decision-making, which excited and paralyzed me. I couldn’t sleep. My mind raced. My heart was divided: i.e., anxious. Can anyone relate?

God and my husband are helping me navigate this time. I’ve purposed to: keep a daily routine; keep practicing to be a Titus 2 older woman; have a list of tasks—necessary and fun; keep praying; have a plan, but remain open to God’s prompting me to serve someone else; “do the next thing,” by faith. I wonder: is it the decision-making or the faith that trips me up?

Grace is ours today. Not tomorrow. Let’s respond to God’s love now and trust him with each tomorrow he chooses to grant.

What is your “next thing?” Sometimes the biggest act of faith for a person doesn’t look like faith to someone else. God knows your heart. What if you’re grieving the loss of someone close and tomorrow looms bleakly? The next thing might be to get out of bed today or put a load of laundry in the washer.

The second stanza from “Doe ye Nexte Thynge”* reads:

Many a questioning, many a fear,

Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment let down from Heaven,

Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.

Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King,

Trust them with Jesus. DO THE NEXT THING.

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of this calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV).

Karen Sims

*Steele Elliott, Emily Elizabeth. Stillness and Service. London: Seeley, Jackson & Halliday, circa 1875.