Just for Today
New books. A new school year.
I can still see it. New workbooks and textbooks lined the shelves. Math, science, history, English, and others. Full of possibilities.
During the summer months I planned. I divided the number of lessons by the weeks we would homeschool. It came down to sticking to the plan as much as possible.
Still, when I would browse the lessons in the math book, for instance, I wondered. How could I teach all these lessons? More importantly, how could my child master all the concepts so he would be ready for the next grade level?
It looked overwhelming.
And it would have been if we had to do it all in one day. But we didn’t.
And neither do you.
A couple weeks ago I had a serious fall. At first, I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't put any weight on my left (artificial) hip. Every time I moved, my tailbone let me know how angry it was that I had fallen on it.
If I had thought I would have to live like that for the rest of my life, I don't know how I would have responded. Was God calling me to live like that for the rest of my life? Probably not. But I knew He was calling me to live like that for that day.
I don't have to consider the rest of my life. That’s too overwhelming. I can focus on today.
Whatever our losses, pain, or difficulties God calls us to live with them for the moment, for that day. We don't have to worry, thinking, “I can't live with this for (the next weeks, months, or years).” He may not require that, but He is calling us to live with it for that day.
A couple days after my fall, I read a blog by a gal with post-polio syndrome. Vaneetha faces extreme physical challenges.
One day her cries to God ended with “I can’t live like this for the rest of my life. I just can’t do it!”
In the silence that followed, these words came to her mind, “I’m not asking you to live like this for the rest of your life. I’m just asking you to live like this today.”
She stopped looking at the rest of her life. Instead, she decided to trust God's strength and grace for just that day. (Read her full blog post.)
How about you? How does it make you feel when you stop looking at all the possible difficulties in the future and focus on accepting God’s grace for today?
