Don't Worry About Yesterday

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? – Matthew 6:27

If I asked you, “What are you worried about right now?” I have no doubt you could tell me something very quickly. We’re all worried about something. Worry never seems to go away.

Fortunately, Jesus had a lot to say about worry. A big portion of the greatest sermon ever preached in the history of the world was geared toward worry. So as we look at that sermon over the next couple of days, we’re going to see what Jesus tells us about how to conquer our worries by making sure we take care of just three days in our lives – yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Today, I want us to look at the first step we can take when it comes to conquering worry. Then tomorrow, we will look at two additional steps.

The first step to conquering the worry you’re struggling with is to put yesterday’s worry in its proper place. As of right now whatever you are worried about in the past, you survived. You may be bruised, beaten and battered, but you are still here, still breathing, still talking, and still living. There is only one reason for that: because God got you here. If God has gotten you through yesterday, don’t you think God can take care of you today?

If you are worried about something right now, if you feel like you have an Egyptian Army behind you and a Red Sea before you and you are worried, the first thing I would say is, “Put yesterday’s worry in its proper place.” God has been faithful in the past and realize that, because He never changes, He will be faithful in the present and in the future.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do about yesterday. Every aspect of the day before today has been etched in history, and we can’t do anything to alter it. So worrying about it isn’t going to do us any good. Therefore, if we want to release worry’s grip on us and not feel the pressure that worrying causes in our lives, let’s learn to put yesterday’s worry in its proper place.

Dear Lord, I acknowledge that worrying is a sin, and it’s a sin I don’t want to continue to struggle with. So I’m asking right now that you would give me peace when I’m tempted to worry, comfort when I’m tempted to stress, and encouragement when I’m tempted to doubt. Help me to trust you rather than worry about things I cannot change. In Jesus’ name, amen.