I have been reminded of two very beautiful verses recently that have brought me to remember the faithfulness of the Lord.  Allow me to share them with you and what they have meant to me…

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” - Matt. 6:34 

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comings with the morning” - Ps 30:5

These are two very distinctive, powerful truths, yet recently I have found a wonderful connection between the two. Allow me to begin with the first verse mentioned and show how the second relates. 

anxiety will get you nowhere

The first comes from a pretty familiar passage in Matthew 6 which speaks both to the love of money and the worry of necessity.  The two things addressed in Matthew 6 are not two different thoughts but rather a building of ideas.  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” (Matt. 6:19, 24-25). Jesus is letting us know that the treasures we store up can exist in the form of anxiety towards what we believe we need.  He is showing that the love of money can be revealed by how much we are even concerned for food and clothing.  He says a few other bold statements in this passage. The first is, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (v. 25), the second is, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (v. 27), and finally the verse I first mentioned, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (v. 34). All are equally piercing when related to the fact that we all worry about our situations in life.  When we go through times that we do not have what we believe we need, the anxiety starts to set in and we can become consumed by it.  Sometimes, as in my case, it is not that fact that there is not enough for the needs of today but rather that the needs of the future are not being met.  What if my car breaks down? What if I lose my job? What if our insurance/rent/gas/etc goes up? And with all those fears the words of Christ resound with these three statements over and over. It is all very clearly in the hands of a Father who cares.

noticing the connection will do wonders

Now, notice the connect to Psalm 30:5, ”Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Don’t miss what the psalmist is telling us.  Weeping may happen and honestly will inevitably happen but joy is coming.  Sometimes that weeping may last more than a night, sometimes it may last months, and sometimes even for years but know that joy is coming.  And more importantly the joy that is coming with out last the weeping that is taking place. Wade through the weeping and subdue the anxiety by looking towards the morning.  Do not let tomorrow become the reason for your anxiety, care for each day as if it is your last, JOY WILL COME!

I hope this truth has found you today in the same way it has found me time and time again.  I hope it will strengthen you to make it through any time of anxiety and help you stand strong by knowing that joy is coming. 

- one who has had his mourning turned into dancing (Ps. 30:11)