Matthew 6:34, for the worry about tomorrow that arrives at bedtime
Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
World English Bible (public domain)
Matthew 6:34 says don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Yes, it is a verse for bedtime, because bedtime is when tomorrow arrives early: the meeting, the bill, the hard conversation. Jesus said it in the Sermon on the Mount, and it gives you leave to keep tomorrow’s trouble where it belongs, in tomorrow.
Why Matthew 6:34 helps at night
The day is over and nothing more can be done about it, so the mind runs ahead and starts rehearsing what comes next: what to say, what might go wrong, what is not ready. Jesus names that habit exactly. Tomorrow, he says, will carry its own worry, and you do not have to carry it for it tonight.
The last line admits that days hold trouble: Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
Each day gets one day’s share. Today’s is already spent, and tomorrow’s can wait for tomorrow.
A few verses earlier he asks a question that fits a bed at one in the morning: Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
Lying awake planning tomorrow only takes an hour from tonight.
How to use Matthew 6:34 tonight
- Before you lie down, write tomorrow’s worries on a scrap of paper, one line each. Name them without solving them.
- Put the paper where you will find it in the morning, by the kettle or on your keys. Tomorrow will be there to meet it.
- Pray one plain sentence: Father, these belong to tomorrow, and tomorrow belongs to you; I am leaving them with you until then.
- Read the middle of the verse once more:
tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
If a worry comes back in the dark, tell it, kindly, that it is on the paper. - Let the quiet room keep the verse on a dark screen with real recorded rain, and close your eyes on today.
What the words mean, and where Jesus said them
Matthew 6:34 closes a passage in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 to 7) about food, clothes and the fear of not having enough. Jesus points to birds that do not sow and lilies that do not spin. His point is that a heavenly Father already knows what you need, and work still has its place. Verse 33 sets the order: seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
The Greek verb translated be anxious is merimnaō, and it appears six times in these ten verses. Jesus keeps coming back to the same word until it is heard. The noun from the same family is the worries of 1 Peter 5:7, the ones you are told to throw onto God.
Each day’s own evil uses the word kakia, which here means trouble or hardship, not wickedness. Jesus is being realistic about days, and the Father who feeds the birds will be in tomorrow too, so it can wait until morning.
Read Matthew 6:25 to 34, the birds and the lilies
These ten verses take about two minutes to read aloud. Verse 34 is the last of them, and it lands differently once you have watched the birds that never fill a barn and the grass that is gone by tomorrow. Read the passage once before bed and stop where it stops.
25Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they? 27“Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? 28Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, 29yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith? 31“Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
Questions people ask
What does Matthew 6:34 mean?
It means you can leave tomorrow’s trouble in tomorrow. Each day brings enough of its own, Jesus says, and the Father who knows your needs will be there in it.
What is the context of Matthew 6:34?
It ends a passage in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25 to 34, where Jesus talks about food, clothing, the birds of the sky and the lilies of the field. The whole passage is printed on this page.
Is it a sin to worry about tomorrow?
Jesus speaks here with an invitation. He was talking to ordinary people who worried about food and clothes, and he answered them by pointing to a Father who already knows what they need.
What if worry about tomorrow keeps me awake most nights?
Keep praying, and tell a doctor too. Worry that takes your sleep for weeks is common, help for it exists, and asking for it is wise. In a crisis, in the US, call or text 988; elsewhere, your local emergency number.