Today

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)

Fear is frequently based in either the past (what we have done or what has been done to us), or it is based in the future (what is about to happen to us or what has to still be done). We rarely remain in the present in our thinking. Whenever we go back to the past failures, we get down on ourselves and see ourselves as having no way of escape - it is like we believe what is about to happen is inevitable. Whenever we focus entirely on the future, we find ourselves being overcome with the anxiety of 'not knowing'. The 'what ifs' of the future can be as daunting as living with our past failures - either one of these scenarios will give us anxiety and might even hold us paralyzed by their overwhelming emotions.

Remaining current is important - we should ask God what he wants from us TODAY. It isn't hard to get his perspective on our day when we ask for it. We frequently focus on the wrong places, though. Seeing all the misguided steps of our past will not make us very secure in taking new steps TODAY. God says he is with us - TODAY. Our past is gone - over, done with, cannot be undone. Our future is not even here yet - it cannot become our sole focus, or we will always be living in the 'it might be', 'it could come'. It is not wrong to hope for a good or positive future, but we are called to live TODAY first! We have choices to make TODAY that are the exact ones God has planned for us TODAY. Yes, I am emphasizing TODAY a lot because I think we don't spend enough time remembering to live WITH HIM in our TODAY.

His strength is available to us today. It isn't in 'reliving' our past, or 'dreaming' of our future. He gives us the strength to navigate today's issues, challenges, hopes, and goals. I am not a big proponent of the 1-, 5-, and 10-year plans in life. I think we need goals, certainly. We just don't need to focus on them so much that we lose sight of what he asks of us today. Sometimes goals can be kind of counterproductive. We can see nothing more than those distant goals and neglect to see what is right in front of us today. I like to plan for vacations away from home. I even have a little countdown app to help me prepare for the journey. I get excited when I see it hit the 30-day mark because I know that it is just a matter of weeks before I leave. Yet, today still requires laundry, housekeeping, yardwork, and grocery store runs!

There is an excitement about the future, sometimes as much as there is disappointment about the past. Both have an impact on our present, but we need to finish our present, investing in the present moments because they are what is assigned to us TODAY. God has a mission for us TODAY that requires our full attention. Give him that attention and you will see him remove the fear of what will come, or the disappointment of what should have been. He brings the joy of what is today and what today's assignment will produce that only TODAY can accomplish. Just sayin!