One Day at a Time. Dr. Roy L. smith tells of a top executive with a terrific load of responsibility, which he seemed to carry with a minimum of strain. His friends had frequently commented on his unusual ability to walk into a complicated situation with calmness and poise.
This man was told by his doctor that he had to turn in to the Hospital for a very serious operation. “All right,” the patient said, “if that’s your verdict, I’ll accept your judgment. But i have the satisfaction of knowing that I will have to be there only one day at a time.”
In that last sentence we have the key to his calm and unruffled life: He had learned the great secret of living one day at a time.
It is such a temptation to live three days at a time — yesterday, today and tomorrow. As if today did not have enough evil in it, we drag all the evils of yesterday along with us, and then borrow trouble from tomorrow.
The man who has learned how to make his religious faith effective has learned that God always provides us with enough strength, courage and power to discharge the duties of today. Also, He promises us ower for tomorrow–when we come to tomorrow.
The Good Book says, “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” The Revised Standard Version makes that a little plainer by saying, “let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”
This, of course, is not a plea for procrastination. The man who puts off doing his duty today will find that it has more than doubled in weight by tomorrow. but, if we accept the full responsibility for each day as it comes, then we will discover that each tomorrow will be greatly simplified.
Suppose you being the day with a reassuring bit of Scripture to set the tone for the whole day. For instance, “This is the Day which the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
There are many other passages or thoughts that come to your mind, or that you can turn in order to get the right start in living one day at a time.
No better word could be found than that in the 23rd Psalm where it says, “The Lord is my Shepherd (therefore) I shall not want.”
