Just Do the Next Thing
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6:34, NLT
How do we keep going when we are hurting? How do we live? A friend once gave me some advice about living with chronic pain: Just do the next thing.* In other words, don’t try to wrap your mind around a long season—or a lifetime—of discomfort and pain; just tackle the next hour, the next day, the next night. As Jesus said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
If you are dealing with any kind of pain today, just do the next thing. It may mean getting out of bed, getting up off the couch, getting out of the house, doing the laundry, or washing those dishes in the sink. Revelation 21:4 reminds us that very soon there will be no more night, pain, or tears. So, press on as best you can and lean helplessly into His arms. You can do no more—and you can do no less.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for reminding me that I only need to concern myself with living one day at a time, one hour at a time. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that whatever it may be, You will be there with me. And that’s all I need to know.
*Thanks to Dr. Michael Easley.
Pressing On: How to Lean on Christ through Suffering
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. Joni encourages you to join her in living out Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
