Enough for today

Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. ~ Exodus 16:4

“God makes a promise. He will give you manna – or grace – when you need it, but not before. That means you will be anxious if you forecast the future because you are making your prediction based on the manna you have left over from today, and there is none. What you don’t factor into your prediction is that you will receive fresh grace when you need it."

~ Dr. Ed Welch, from Peace that passes all understanding

 - TableTalk Magazine, Jan 2010

These words resonate with me so clearly this week as I prepare my first career transition seminar...Coping with Job Loss.  So much of the anxiety and fear we face is from this "forecasting" into the future (whether tommorow or six months from now)...What will happen when my severance/savings runs out?  Will I have found another job in time? Will I lose my house, will I have to file bankruptcy, or will I lose my children's future education...the list of what-ifs goes on and on. 

We spend our lives trying to store up money, belongings, accomplishments only to have them stolen by stock market crashes, mortgage crises, and having our identities stripped away by corporate down-sizing. 

“Without realizing it, we begin to look for identity, meaning and purpose, and our inner sense of well-being horizontally…important things (like family, work, housing, money, etc.) become all too important to us because they become the places we look to for our rest…they not only do not give us rest, they become the reasons for the endless cycles of worry, anxiety and fear…”

~ Paul David Tripp from Thinking Biblically about Worry 

- TableTalk Magazine, Jan 2010

This daily dependece on God seems to be the point.  I can chose to depend on and trust God for my future, or I can chose to fret and worry about my needs. Either way, I can't control what's to come, I can only do what I believe is best today. 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

~ Matthew 6:25-27

WORDS TO LIVE BY...