Emily Romrell

Estimated Reading Time 5 Minutes

Hey you! Thanks for checking in with me today. I’m Emily Romrell and this is The Vibrant Life Podcast. I’m not gonna lie, peeps, the last week has been a bit rough for me. I’ve been sick and in a sort of funk for the last few days. I guess that’s just kind of the way life goes. We all have ups and downs. Today has been better though. I had lunch sitting in the sun with my brother talking and watching baby ducks. It really doesn’t get much better than that. To me, the little things will always be the big things. I’m super grateful I was able to make that memory today. Also, there’s banana bread baking in my oven right now and the smell is incredible. I can’t wait to nab a piece after our conversation.

But no worries, I love my weekly chats with you all. That’s really how I’m starting to feel about the podcast. It’s like a one-sided visit with a friend I just can’t see. I hope you can feel the love. If you do, a quick review on iTunes would really be great. And please let your friends know about the podcast as well. It means a lot.

This week the topic is Strength For Today and as usual, it’s a subject that I needed to remind myself about. One of the real benefits of having a podcast or putting content out regularly is that I get to do a lot of self-reflection. It’s kind of like a personal pep talk, and I really needed it this week

There’s a quote that’s been around on the internet for a while that I really like:

I think this is important to remember. When we’re in the thick of hard things, it’s easy to forget that tomorrow is coming. But understanding this concept of Strength For Today is something that helps me.

I had a friend growing up who lived across the street from us. She loved to talk and visit with my mom in the yard and we would go shopping with her and I’d babysit her kids once in a while. She’s from Morroco and it was really fun to talk with her about her culture and about all kinds of things.

When I was around sixteen, I was really struggling and she took me out to dinner. She gave me some advice that I haven’t always been great at following but that has stayed with me through the years. “Emily,” she said, “you can’t spend your energy worrying about anything but today. God gives us strength for today.” (Side note: She’s Muslim but she’s read the bible and actually has more understanding of it than a lot of Christians I know. We had some good conversations about religion.) Anyway, she reminded me of a scripture that’s in Matthew 6:34: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.

At first glance, that scripture might not look so promising. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. You might be thinking something like, I’m already having a heck of a time. I don’t need any more evil. But the keyword in the sentence is Sufficient. Sufficient means enough. So the message is that each day we are given enough to deal with the evil of that day. Evil can mean all kinds of things. But the takeaway for me is that every morning we are each given enough to handle whatever life throws at us. We aren’t given enough for tomorrow or next week, but we are given enough strength for today.

Matthew 6 is actually one of my favorite chapters in the bible. It’s right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, and this is where Jesus asks us to consider the lilies. I love it so much that I have a reminder hanging in my living room. I’m going to just read the last seven verses of the chapter:

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 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.

Don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean we don’t have to work or put in effort to get results in life. But, My Friends, isn’t it so comforting to know that we are given what we need to handle each day as it comes to us? I have good days and I have bad days just like every other human on the planet. On bad days sometimes this concept is difficult to hang on to. But if we open our hearts and have faith, I truly believe everything works out. We are given the strength for today.

The phrase, “Lord, give me strength.” takes on a lot more meaning. Honestly, sometimes I even break it down further and ask for strength to get me through each task as it comes. Sometimes I pray things like please give me strength to fold all my laundry and tidy up my room. Or if I’m just really having a hard time I pray for the strength to get through the next hour, or even the next five minutes. When I am sick with headaches or insomnia or anxiety, sometimes that’s all I can do. But like the quote I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I’ve survived 100% of my hardest days so far. So have you.