A Word for Worrywarts

I have been using an Advent/Christmas devotional this year based on the writings of Dietrich Bonheoffer.  Bonheoffer was a German Lutheran pastor who participated in an assassination attempt against Hitler and eventually paid for it with his life.  He was executed just weeks before the end of the Second World War.

The letters and other things he wrote while in prison were collected and published posthumously as Letters and Papers from Prison.  Despite the very uncertain conditions that he had to deal with at that time, Bonheoffer was able to keep a measure of serenity because of his strong faith.  In one of those writings he offered up a few thoughts on Matthew 6:34b, the last part of Jesus' oft-quoted teaching about worry:  "Today's trouble is enough for today."  Reflecting on that passage, Bonheoffer wrote:  "Worry is always directed toward tomorrow . . . .It is precisely the securing of tomorrow that makes me insecure today. . . . Only those who place tomorrow in God's hands and receive what they need today are truly secure."  (191)

Powerful words--from an exceptionally credible source!  Words that ring as true today as they did over sixty years ago.  It is, in a way, simply another way of saying, live in the moment in the now.  But it is also more than that.  For we are reminded to turn over our concerns to God, the only source of true security.  Lasting security. 

Bigger armies won't guarantee us security.  Bigger bank accounts won't assure us of a safe future.  Our only lasting security comes in and through God.

Maybe this year--today--we can learn to place our tomorrows in God's hands, so that we have time to truly live today.