Help - one day at a time
The wisest Man said, “Who by worry can add a single hour to his life? ... Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matt. 6:27, 34 [NIV]
Fishermen who are fishing in mountain streams will use a short line and a short rod. The line can be easily directed into pools that are close by as the fisherman pleases. If the line is let out 20 or 30 feet, it becomes unmanageable and undirectable. As a result, the angler is the victim of every floating stick, jutting rock and overhanging tree.
Observe men wading down the stream of life. They jump from rock to rock, slipping on a rock and falling into a pool. Their line was so long that they could do nothing with it — a line that reached down 20 or 30 years sometimes.
To avoid many of these difficulties, try shortening your line. Let it reach only one day. As noted by the wise Man, each day has its own troubles. The person who lives weeks or years in advance of the present is advised to go back to the day you are living. Living life by the yard is hard, life lived by the inch can be a cinch. My mother often said, “God, there is nothing you and I can not handle together today.”
The Rev. Paul Killingsworth serves as pastor at Yuma First Assembly.
