May is an incredibly busy time of year for a teacher. As this month approached, I could see the many big tasks looming on the horizon. You may or may not know this about me, but I’m a born coordinator and I enjoy event planning. It’s a gift God has given to me, and I want to honor Him with it.
That doesn’t mean it’s not daunting when you’re talking about hosting graduation receptions where a couple hundred guests are expected. I’m thrilled that I can honor our graduates and bless their families. It’s also a lot of work.
I sat down a few weeks ago and broke down my tasks into chunks. They went into my planner piece by piece, spread over the first few weeks of this month. I’ve worked on them for an hour or an hour and a half every day, completing the assigned daily chores. It’s coming together and the end is in sight.
As long as I’ve focused on what I’d given to that day, I haven’t gotten overwhelmed. But when I took my eyes off that day’s task and began to add up how much was left to do, discouragement and exhaustion would creep in. That’s when it was time to refocus. Today. That’s what I need to concern myself with.
This is a Scriptural principle. Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Later in the same chapter, He says: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
There is nothing wrong with planning, with looking to the future and preparing as best we can. But truthfully speaking, we only have today. I can’t live out tomorrow right now. Or next week, or next year, or next decade, if God gives that to me. God promises to meet our daily needs, to give us grace for what we need in the moment. We can get overwhelmed when we try to peek into the future and see what might be waiting for us. We don’t yet have grace for what is there. Maybe it looks big and daunting. But it’s not ours to tackle right now.
Today is ours. What is on your plate today? You’ve been given the grace for it. If it feels big—because often it is!—ask the Lord for strength, and step into it with joy and security. He hasn’t given you more than you can handle with Him.
Leave tomorrow where it is. When it arrives, you’ll have everything you need for it.
For today, do the work before you. Rest in Him. And don’t forget to give thanks that this is the day He has made!
100% correct. Grace is given when needed. If it were we’d waste it and not have the joy in seeing it come directly from God and always just in time. I passed this on to several because it is for all of us. Daily!
Thank you so much, Nicki. God is so good!