Monday meditation: Just concentrate on today’s decisions—and blessings
Today’s post continues October’s series,
“Here’s What Jesus Does.”
Part Two: He Reminds us of God’s Care
My wife and I fretted for years about “What will we do with Mom?”
My mother lived by herself, six hours away, with little money and an array of physical ailments. We kept her propped up emotionally, and sometimes financially, from a distance and saw her as often as we could. She was an odd mix of coping admirably alone while staying dependent on us.
We knew she couldn’t live that way forever, but we also knew she would not be happy trying to live with us—and neither would we. And she couldn’t afford to stay in a care facility.
One day I returned to work from lunch and met my assistant waiting to tell me my boss wanted to see me. I’d received a phone call, he told me. My mother had died. He allowed me to use his private office to make a few necessary phone calls confirming and then sharing the news.
The first thing my wife said to me when I walked in the door at home that afternoon was, “Well, we’ve worried for years about how to handle your mother’s old age, and now we don’t need to worry anymore.” As it turned out, surprisingly we hadn’t needed to worry at all.
We hadn’t needed to worry at all.
I’ve often remembered that experience as I’ve thought about the pressing concerns of the Alzheimer’s caregiver. Will I stay healthy enough to provide all the care she needs? What will her condition be next year—or next month? Can I afford to place her somewhere else or hire the help at home?
And beyond long-term worries are weekly decisions about how and how soon to replace familiar routines with new ways of managing everyday life.
All of this requires thoughtful planning and making wise choices based on intuition, the input of experts, and the experience of other caregivers. But worry gets in the way.
The final sentences in today’s Scripture can guide us. “Do not be anxious about tomorrow,” Jesus said, “for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
This was a summary of what Jesus had already told the crowd that day. “God will take care of you—today,” Jesus was saying. Just as he feeds the birds and clothes the wildflowers with color, God will not let those who seek him go hungry or naked. You cannot add one year to your life, Jesus added (nor, we might add, can we control the progress of our loved one’s disease), by worrying.
We dare not let all the unknowns about tomorrow paralyze and prevent us from deciding how to handle today. We dare not let concerns about the future blind us to the ways God is providing in this very moment.
Read: Matthew 6:25-34
Pray: Thank you, Lord, for another day of life, the beginning of another week to serve you by serving the one in my care. Give me strength for today, and joy in its beauty, and peace with the knowledge that you will be here with me tomorrow, too.
Illustration copyright Classic Bible Art. All rights reserved. Click here for a list of events where you can see Classic Bible Art on display this year. For more information about securing a library of this beautiful art for yourself, see here or here. Some art in this series is available for you to license at Goodsalt.com.