Words Of Wisdom (Matthew 6:34)

It was an annual tradition I began several decades ago. A few weeks before my dermatology residents graduated from the residency program, I would take each of them out to dinner. It was more than a celebration. It was a chance to reflect on the years we had shared and to give each resident the opportunity to ask me any reasonable question before beginning the next chapter of life.

During one of those dinners, a graduating resident asked, “What words of wisdom can you give me about handling all the pressures and demands of your life and career?”

I smiled. “I can’t tell you anything profound,” I replied. “Even now, as I prepare to retire, I sometimes wonder how I was able to do everything that those years required.”

Then I paused. “Perhaps that’s the answer. If I spent my time thinking about everything that still had to be done, I would have been overwhelmed. There were always more patients to see, more slides to review, more lectures to prepare, more decisions to make, and more people depending on me. So I learned to stop carrying tomorrow. I simply did the work God placed before me today.”

Looking back now, I realize that this was more than a way to survive a demanding career. It was one of the quiet ways God was teaching me to trust Him.

Jesus said,

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

But how do we live faithfully today? The psalmist answers:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105 (ESV)

God never promised to illuminate my entire career, my entire future, or my entire life. He promised something better—a lamp for my feet. A lamp doesn’t reveal the whole road; it gives enough light for the next faithful step.

As I look back over nearly four decades in medicine, I can honestly say that I rarely knew what lay around the next bend. Yet every time I needed His direction, His Word gave enough light for that day’s path, and His grace gave enough strength for that day’s work.

Perhaps that’s the wisdom I should have shared all along. Don’t try to carry tomorrow. Walk faithfully in the light God gives you today, and trust Him with the road you cannot yet see.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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