Most of our lives lean toward tomorrow.
We plan for the wedding, the better job, the retirement. It is an easy way to live, right up until the person we planned that future with is gone. Then the future turns to smoke. All that is left is yesterday’s memories and the misery of today.
That is where I was after Holli died. And it is where God taught me one of the most important lessons of my grief: the power of being present.
I wrote a lot to the Lord in those days. One morning I admitted something I did not like to see in myself. I have made my own plans and asked You to bless them too many times. What do You want from me today?
The answer I sensed was simpler than I expected. Today, I’m only going to give you one goal. Take one day at a time.
Jesus said it plainly long ago.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34, BSB)
Chewing on the past and worrying about the future is a load no person can carry. Only God can live in yesterday, today, and tomorrow all at once in a healthy way. We were made to live in one day. This one.
As I practiced that, over and over, something shifted. My walk with Jesus moved from my head to my heart. My head was always busy with yesterday and tomorrow. My heart could only meet Him today.
I do not want you to think this was easy for me. It was not. Some days I forgot. Sometimes I went several days in a row without living one day at a time, and without asking Jesus what He wanted from me that day.
When I looked back at why, I noticed something. It was almost never because what God asked was too hard. It was because I had added to it. I took His one small goal, piled my own list on top, failed at the pile, and then struggled to start again.
The Lord kept telling me He was looking for progress, not perfection. He would meet me right where I was and invite me to begin again.
That is the part I most want you to hear. Our Father’s greatest joy is to see us win. He is not waiting to shame us when we stumble. He is waiting to help us up.
So if the future feels overwhelming right now, do not try to fix the whole thing. You do not have to carry next month or next year.
Just today. Start with this one.
Death is a Liar