“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself…” (Matthew 6:34, NIV).

I was leaving my house for a grandson’s baseball game when I spotted a neighbor coming in from a run. He is a 40-year-old Christian high school teacher whose many children fill our cove with laughter each day. “How’d you do?” I asked. “Great! It was my best pace in a long time. First time I’ve run since my stent.” He paused and realized, “You didn’t know I had a stent put in three days ago. 80 percent blockage of my LAD. They found it somehow when they were checking out my thyroid. Never had a symptom.” “Praise God, what a miraculous find,” I said. “You need to tell your students.” “I did,” he answered, “Told them we can never be sure about tomorrow; that God is good, that we need to live each day the best we can.”

How many of us live with the assumed surety of tomorrow and fail to make the most of today? This young father is unlikely to make that mistake again.

I am the chief of sinners¹ when it comes to missing the moment—the only moment I am guaranteed to live. I am constantly thinking of the next step, how to get past the present one to get there. Almost always the future steps I seek are good, but my dwelling on them frequently diminishes God’s plan for the moment.

If I am ever to show love, it is in the moment. If I am ever to listen to my wife, it is in the moment. If I am ever to nurture my children and grandchildren, I must hear them in the moment they choose to speak. If I am ever to enjoy the life God has given me, it is in the moment. If I am ever to touch the suffering, it is in the moment. If I am ever to hear God whisper, it is in the moment. If I am ever to worship, it is in the moment. If I am ever to witness for Christ, it is in the moment. If I am ever to trust God for my future, it is in the moment.

It seems that the value of life always lies in a moment I am running through to grab a future that is always one step ahead. So how do I change?

Dear God,
Help me focus on today and trust you to plan tomorrow.
Amen

¹1 Timothy 1:15