God promised to supply Moses and the Hebrews with manna each day. But he told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Those who disobeyed and collected enough for two days found themselves with rotten manna. The only exception to the rule was the day prior to the Sabbath. On Friday, they could gather twice as much. In other words, God gave them what they needed in their time of need. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:34 MSG).
Doesn’t each day have its share of challenges? Some of them repeat themselves over time; others are one-day specials. The key to tranquility is to face today’s problems and no more, to treat each day like a self-contained unit. Here are today’s problems. Meet them with God’s strength. But don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet. You simply have enough for today. You can’t cross a bridge until you reach it.
• Find a parking place for tomorrow’s problems. When they surface, write them down and mentally drive them into a parking garage and leave them there.
• Don’t overstress your coping skills. Emotional energy is finite. Give yourself permission to say, “I will solve this tomorrow. By sunrise I will be replenished physically and mentally. Every day is a fresh start so I will start fresh in the morning.”
• Shut the gate on yesterday, and don’t touch the gate on tomorrow. “This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). You no longer have yesterday. You do not yet have tomorrow. You only have today. Live in it!