“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)
Last week, my husband and I were cooking dinner with the murmur of the evening news in the background. I glanced at the screen and saw an alarming statistic pop up about lower-than-average reading levels for students in our school district. My stress spiral began.
“What kind of teachers will my son have? Will he learn everything he needs to know? Who will influence him? Will he like school? What if he’s in class with a bully? What if a teacher tries to push a controversial political agenda on him?”
Like lightning during a severe thunderstorm, one stress-filled thought after another struck my mind in a rapid-fire fashion. With a furrowed brow and knots in my stomach, my body felt the weight of my worry.
Friend, guess how old my son is?
One. He’s one year old. He will not be in elementary school for years, yet there I was in the middle of our kitchen stressing myself out over circumstances I have no control over.
Have you been here, too?
As moms, we love our kids with all we have. We want nothing more than to protect, prepare, and prosper them to be everything they’re meant to be in this world, but we can easily get caught in the middle of anxiety-filled, worst-case scenario thinking. Our hearts are in the right place, but our minds can take us by the hand and lead us into dark places if we aren’t careful.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 (ESV), “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” I’ve read this verse countless times and admittedly grew numb to its power for one reason or another. But sitting at my wooden dining table the morning after my school-related stress spiral, God revealed its power in a new way.
The Holy Spirit laid this challenging question on my heart: If you’re worried about tomorrow’s potential trouble, are you fully embracing today’s joy? Like the joy of a yellow sunrise, drinking a hot cup of coffee, seeing a toothy smile on your child’s face, or smelling fragrant fresh flowers in a clear mason jar. These are the joys I don’t want to miss out on, and I don’t believe God wants you to miss out on them either. God gives us the freedom to choose where we place our focus, on tomorrow’s trouble or today’s joy.
Friend, if you’re like me and tend to over-stress and overthink at times, I want you to know you’re not alone. There’s a reason Jesus spoke the words we read in Matthew 6:34, and there’s a reason they’ve been preserved for thousands of years. He knew we’d need them - especially as moms!
When you feel tempted to stress about tomorrow’s potential trouble, don’t forget the joy God has for you and your family today. Because of Jesus, it’s yours for the taking.
Your Fellow Able Mom,
Mandy Johnson
Lord, thank you for being a constant source of protection and provision. Forgive me when I worry. Please help me continually lay my stress at your feet, and replace it with your more-than-sufficient joy that is my strength. Amen.
Connect with Mandy: @mandycjohnson www.mandycjohnson.com mandy@palmsofjoy.com If you didn’t hear about Mom Comm 2023, when and where, join Able Moms Communities and watch our video here. Don't miss our version of moms-night-out every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. CST - laugh with your Able Moms team live on Facebook (Not an Able Mom Member yet?) Join us! Start here AbleMoms.org Follow Able Moms on IG at https://www.instagram.com/able_moms/
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