Victory for Today
I spent several months looking forward to Christmas, and as soon as it was here, I was looking forward to New Years. On New Year’s Eve, I was already thinking about the next big project before the ball even dropped.
The Holiday season is barely behind me and a busy Northwoods Winter is still before me. Already, the retail stores are looking forward to Valentine’s day and in some cases, St. Patrick’s Day.
I have a tendency in my western culture to live in the moment while planning for the next. I live on a perpetual treadmill of excited anxiousness for what’s next. In a business sense, this is marketable wisdom; but in holistic living, it may cause anxiety as well as a plethora of other imbalances in life.
There is wisdom in planning for tomorrow, but if it keeps me from fully embracing the moment I am in – from recognizing the presence of abundant provision and grace for now – then there is something unbalanced in my enjoyment of now and my concern for tomorrow.
I wonder if we need to be reminded that life isn’t simply about preparing for, planning for, and investing in – tomorrow. We have today. We are not promised anything more. Our Creator wants us to be wise about tomorrow, but not at the expense of today.
The enemy uses our insecurities and failures, the failures of others, and the circumstances of the broken world to bring us down; to cause worry and strife of all kinds. However, the great promise of our Savior is that he is always with us. Take a look at this promise:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
We can be certain that the future is not going to be perfect, but as the famous minister and civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy said, “I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future”. I can live fully in this moment and focus on what I need to in this moment, allowing it to last as long as it needs to; because tomorrow is already in His hands.
Let me share one more verse with you:
“Bear one anothers burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
Sometimes, the Truth doesn’t match what we are experiencing. That doesn’t mean the Truth isn’t real. It means there is something wrong with our interpretation of the experience, or our application of the Truth to that experience. That’s why we need each other. Sometimes we need help figuring it out. With His promise in mind and the provision of others who are able to help, we can be victorious in just living today.
Be encouraged in the reminder that you are not alone and that there are brothers and sisters in Christ all around who can help
So, who will have victory today? You? Or the treadmill?