Matthew 6:34 -- On Being Overwhelmed

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Matthew 6:34


I think this verse is God asking us not to worry too much about things. He of course in general wants us to plan for the future, and to utilize long-term thinking so that we make choices that will prepare us for eternity rather than just trying to fulfil our immediate desires. There are scriptures about those things too. However, here he is reminding us that there is only so much that any of us can do in a day, and we can't take all of that on ourselves at once. God asks for just that tiny sliver of things that we can do today without giving ourselves a nervous breakdown or inducing other stress-related injuries. :)

Yes, we need to learn to be perfect someday, and what we do today affects that... but also, today, all we need to do is those tiny steps that will get us there, like reading and praying and being sure we are listening to the spirit (including when the spirit advises us to rest or to do something that makes us happy). Beating ourselves up about all the things that we aren't, and that we haven't done, and that we need to do tomorrow... those things can wait until tomorrow. We have enough on our plates without stressing about all of that. As God says, "it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength" (Mosiah 4:27). Slow and steady, staying on the path, is much better than trying to rush ahead and burning out halfway through. :) Today, let's just do what we can now, and let go of the stress of trying to be perfect ahead of time. If we stick with God and listen for his promptings, we'll get there, and he'll teach us along the way so that we are always able to handle what comes next.