Sometimes it pays to focus more on today than on tomorrow.
IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING
Most of us have sought God’s will as we plan our future, but what about today? We spend so much time
considering something that may or may not happen while ignoring the moment we are in. A picture taken from the stands when American Pharaoh won the Triple Crown says it all. Most of the spectators were more interested in capturing the moment for future use than in being a part of the actual moment. Unfortunately, this describes most of us. If we’ve got a camera or a smart phone, we want to capture the moment for our future enjoyment. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this. It’s nice to have a record of the special moments in our lives.
The problem comes when we live so much for the future that we miss out on living today. Too often, we enter this danger zone when we focus our prayers on what we should do with our lives tomorrow at the expense of understanding what God wants us to do today. I have come to believe that if we focused on following Jesus one day at a time, the future would take care of itself because we would find ourselves right in the center of God’s will.
AS I SEE IT
One of the greatest examples of this “daily following” is found in Genesis 12:1-5. God told Abram to leave his country and his people and head off to a land that God would later disclose. God promised to grow Abram into a great nation and to greatly bless him and to make his name great. Abram knew nothing regarding his future apart from the limited (but profound) information God provided. He didn’t know where he was going, why he was going there, how long he would be there, or if he would return. God had Abram’s future planned. Abram’s responsibility was simply to trust and obey.
History shows that God was true to His promise. The nation of Israel came into being and the Savior of the world was manifested on earth through the lineage of Abram. The course of history was set by one man focusing on what God called him to do today with no instructions for tomorrow. I believe in the principle of progressive revelation. As we respond to the light God gives today, He provides more light in the future.
I think we all would benefit by focusing more on what God desires from us today, right where we are,
regardless of the situation, and less on tomorrow. There’s something very special about each 24 hour period God gives us as a gift. So much of nature starts over with every sunrise, and the same applies to our lives. God’s mercies are new every morning, and our prayers from yesterday may not carry over to today. Some things require a daily restart. I’m convinced that life would be much more fulfilling if we learned to live it one day at a time, focusing on what God wants us to do today.
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