I am struck again today at 2 seemingly opposite things:
- That I regularly live trying to anticipate the future
- That the future is completely unknown
I cannot know what lies ahead – good or ill. Yet I try to anticipate everything I can about the possibilities of both. But the effort is largely ill-founded and largely a waste of energy.
I noticed this again today while running; realizing that I can only thank God for the beauty of the day outside and for the ability he has given me to simply notice it, to enjoy it … to see it, smell it, feel it, taste it, hear it, sense it. I then thought about my yesterdays, in light of my experience today and realized that God is both taking care of me now (today) and that He has done so in all my yesterdays (the past). Why then would I worry about the future? Is the future any more in my hands than today is, than yesterday was? What makes me think I can manage the future, especially when I realize I haven’t controlled much of anything up to this point? In fact, the worry about getting through tomorrow seems to do little more than detract from my ‘today’, and my awareness that He is taking care of me in ways well beyond what I can imagine.
The only thing I need to do is the only thing I can do – trust Him…today.
A life un-preoccupied with the future is a life that is finally free.
