“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
Mat. 6:34
What is your relationship to the present? Remember when you were a child, how the summer seemed to last such a long time? Each day brought endless hours of freedom and exploration, of living in what the moment offered. From an adult’s perspective, those summer months race by! Perhaps it is because we are always looking ahead to the next event, a new project, something more exciting or fulfilling.
I used to be far more future-oriented than I am these days. My mind would be active scanning the future horizon for all sorts of possibilities for my life. I’m pretty sure I was looking for God’s will for my life but, instead of looking for it today, I was looking for it tomorrow, and trying to adjust my day according to whatever my imagination sensed was from God. I’ve come to appreciate Paul’s reminder that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1Cor. 2:9). These days I tell myself that, if I’ve imagined something to be possible, it’s probably not what God has in mind! Our expectations of what is down the road in our lives create disappointments and even make us miss the opportunities God is presenting to us right now. If we are running ahead of God by ourselves, we often stumble blindly because we are not content to look to Him for where we are at this point in life.
Instead, we are reminded that God’s pace and intentions are often different from our own.
Be anxious about nothing (Phil. 4:6) but ‘watch and pray’ as today’s events continue to unfold God’s mysterious will for your life.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
Rob Des Cotes
Imago Dei Christian Communities
written in 2008
For Group Discussion:
1. Where you recognize the tendency in yourself to have your eyes fixed on future possibilities?
2. If we are always looking into the future, what disposition might it create in us towards God?
3. Are you able to trust God’s mysterious will for your life?
For Prayer: We ask for faith to live in today however You lead us. Help us to watch and pray, attentive to what You are preparing each day.