Scotland’s George MacDonald was a Christian author and minister. He once said:

No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourself so. If you find yourself so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God’s. He begs you to leave the future to Him and mind the present.

Of course, MacDonald’s words merely echo the words of Jesus from 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. (N.K.J.V.)

One fall morning I woke up with yardwork on my mind. I had let my yard go for a while and really needed to put in a full day of trimming bushes, raking leaves, disposing of leaves, etc. Other than making a quick trip to the bank, picking up my son Ryan from school, and wolfing down a bite or two of breakfast and lunch, I spent that entire day doing yardwork. I worked until dark and still didn’t get everything done that I had planned to do.

That morning, when I first awoke, I got a clear leading from the Lord to devote the day to getting the yard back into shape. But before I could even finish breakfast and get out the door to begin that work, doubts started creeping into my mind about my plan. I started thinking, “Maybe I need to work on my Sunday morning sermon for a while before I head outside.”

That was a case of me borrowing from a future day’s trouble. As I’ve already mentioned, I had so much yardwork to do that day that I worked pretty much nonstop and still didn’t get it all finished. Obviously, I didn’t have an extra hour or two to devote to sermon preparation. Furthermore, I still had several days that week to get that sermon in order. And yet, there I was, worrying about sermon preparation when God wanted my mind focused upon yardwork.

So what’s the application of all this for you today? It’s simple: All you have to get done today is what God has scheduled for you today. One of my life verses is Ephesians 2:10, which says:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (N.K.J.V.)

I take this verse to mean that God has certain good works that He has prepared beforehand for me to do in my lifetime, and it only makes sense that those good works are laid out on a day-by-day basis. That’s why I get up each morning and literally say something like this, “Lord, thank you for the rest that I was able to get last night, and thank you for this day. Help me to do my list for today, whatever that is.” Then I do my best to let the Lord lead me step by step through my day.

Some days play out pretty much as I could have guessed, but other days are filled with all kinds of wrinkles and “plan Bs.” At any rate, the point is that we need to think of each day as being a life of its own. That includes this current day. So tell me, are you focused on this unique 24-hour period or are you worrying about some future day? Be honest in how you answer and change any thinking (and worrying) that you need to change.