EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on Feb. 28, 2025.
By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks
One of my very first pastoral mentors taught me the vital life lesson that today's worries are enough for today.
If you want to find the scriptural reference, look for Matthew 6:34: “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
That handy piece of advice has saved my bacon on numerous occasions when the weight of the world was about to crush me.
When the seeming emotional tidal wave of personal heartbreak is ready to pull me under; or when professional obligations seem to pile so high that I don’t believe I can ever ascend that steep cliff face; and in so many other instances in between.
That’s when I remind myself, “Well, there’s really nothing I can do about that today. So, there’s no sense losing sleep over it, fretting over it, letting it drain my optimism. Because that is tomorrow's problem. Jesus tells me so.”
Friends, this is effective. … It really is. … Because there is no greater thief of our productivity, nor our joy than worry. And there is no greater producer of worry than focusing on future developments over which we have no control.
So my advice? … Be like a good New Yorker and “Fuhgeddaboudit!”
Granted, we can’t all live like Timon and Pubmbaa, because, after all, there are relationships to maintain, and families to run and societies that need order.
But let’s be honest here: We’re all killing ourselves a little bit everyday given the stress and anxiety levels we’re carrying around nowadays.
I give a grateful nod to my thoughtful wife, Shelley, who gave me a loving kick in the pants the other night when I was unproductively dwelling on a negative turn of events at work that day.
As we exercised together at home that night, me on the treadmill, she on the yoga mat. As only a spouse can, she lovingly called me out: “Aren’t you supposed to lead the organization with inspiration? What’s with the Eeyore act?”
And she was absolutely correct. At that moment, I was forgetting one of my very own favorite scriptural principles: Today’s worries are enough for today. Period.
I was tired, and a couple of long days had driven me to a spiritual low point. However, a loving spouse thankfully noticed that I wasn’t living up to my own core values and reminded me what I preach to others.
Years ago, Pastor Aaron taught me the value of keeping worry at bay and living in the moment. In the present, my wife Shelley reminded me to stay true to that core belief and challenged me to live up to it.
Friends, this is the good stuff. … The stuff of faithful living. … This is why we’re designed to live in community together. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.
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