“Do not worry! Earthly goods deceive the human heart into believing that they give it security and freedom from worry. But in truth, they are what cause anxiety. The heart which clings to goods receives with them the choking burden of worry. Worry collects treasures, and treasures produce more worries. We desire to secure our lives with earthly goods; we want our worrying to make us worry-free, but the truth is the opposite. The chains which bind us to earthly goods, the clutches which hold the goods tight, are themselves worries.
Abuse of earthly goods consists of using them as a security for the next day. Worry is always directed toward tomorrow. But the goods are intended only for today in the strictest sense. It is our securing things for tomorrow which makes us so insecure today. It is enough that each day should have its own troubles. Only those who put tomorrow completely into God’s hand and receive fully today what they need for their lives are really secure. Receiving daily liberates me from tomorrow” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).
What was that Jesus said? Something about God giving us this day our daily bread? He didn’t say to ask God for a week’s worth just to be on the safe side. He didn’t say to stockpile your bread so that you will have plenty for your golden years.
He said to ask for today what you need for today. That part of the Lord’s prayer shows that you are trusting that the same God who gives you bread today will also provide tomorrow and the next day and the next.
I remember I read somewhere that worry is simply imagining your future without God in it, as if it were all up to you to solve all those hypothetical dilemmas that may or may not arise. The antidote for worry is worship, acknowledging that everything you have, all that you are, and all you need comes from God.
When you have Jesus and nothing else, you have everything you need. When you have everything else but not Jesus, you have nothing.
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