Four weeks from Friday I will be headed back to Georgia. I realize a month is a long time, and there is still a lot to be done here, but thoughts of home are already creeping into my mind. Isn't it strange how we so seldom fix our thoughts on the only time we really have available to us, the present? It seems we are always pining for yesteryear, or else we're busy making plans about what we're going to do next. Just today I taught my students about the importance of living in "day-tight compartments" where you pour everything you've got into today, and don't waste time or energy on what was, or what may someday be.
Jesus was big on this idea, teaching his disciples not to worry about tomorrow, "for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matt. 6:34). On the other hand, the Bible certainly commends planning for the future. We're not supposed to just sit idly by and wait for something to drop in our lap. How do we navigate between these two extremes? It's tricky, but doable. Personally, I keep sensing that I need to concentrate on my teaching in Africa for now; I need to focus on the only time any of us truly have, the "right now" of life. The time will come for thinking about the future.
Perhaps you are in the same boat as me. With 10% unemployment and with change swirling around us I'm sure there are others reading this who are as unsettled as me about the future. If so, pray with me that God will give us peace of mind, and patience, to wait on God's perfect timing. Then we can say with the Psalmist, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope" (Psalm 130:5).
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