We have today. . .

My sis called me this morning and told me that Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter had been killed yesterday when her teenage brother accidentally hit her in the driveway. I started to cry instantly. I looked at Kelsey and couldn't imagine losing my 5 years old. I cried because I know the grief brought on by the death of a loved one. I ached for a teenage boy who will struggle to forgive himself for such a tragedy.

I have to be honest - I always struggle with fear when I hear stories like this. What does my future hold? What will I face in the years ahead? The battle to surrender my fear to God is daily - and sometimes it is moment by moment.

I've talked to a couple of my friends recently about a truth the Lord has been emblazing in my heart: we have to live one day at a time. There are so many times when I am consumed by my thoughts of tomorrow - both the good (my dreams and hopes) and the bad (my fears and worries). What will happen in the future? Will Craig arrive home safely from his business trip? Will my kids be safe today? I am learning that I have to release those thoughts and be fully present in each day. I have to be aware before the Lord - am I being who I'm supposed to be? Am I spending time with God? Am I giving myself completely to what the Lord has given into my care today?


Matthew 6:34 says, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." There are a lot of things to worry about - I'm on overload from hearing about natural disasters killing hundreds of thousands of people in the world. Now a new report has come out that the "big one" - a huge earthquake, will hit Southern Claifornia in the next 30 years. Great - something to look forward to.

But these verses teach us that Jesus is very clear - we are not to worry about tomorrow. We are to focus our energy into today, what it holds, and how we follow God's lead through this present moment.

In reading The Shack (which I truly believe is a must-read), the main character, Mack, and Jesus have a conversation about this very topic.

Mack says, "For me, I spend a big piece in the past, but most of the rest of the time, I'm trying to figure out the future." [Jesus says] "Not unlike most people. When I dwell with you, I do so in the present - I live in the present. Not the past, though much can be remembered and learned by looking back, but only for a visit, not an extended stay. And for sure I do not dwell in the future you visualize or imagine. Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you?

I could quote so much more of this section of the book, but here is the kicker of that section:
[Jesus says] "The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational fears about legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those have place in your life, you neither believe I am good, nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don't know it." (The Shack, pages 141-142).

Jesus loves me - do I really know? I am learning to walk more deeply in God's amazing, passionate, and all consuming love for me - and walk in the true knowledge of it every day. Because when I am present in each moment, looking to Jesus for love and direction, my every day looks very different.