Trusting Him today for tomorrow

"If we are careful to do our duty, we may trust God with our comfort... Many Christians anticipate evils, questioning what they shall do, and fearing to proceed in the way of duty. But we have no right to anticipate evils, so as to distress ourselves about them. To carnal minds we may appear to act absurdly, but the path of duty is ever the path of safety."
Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Leviticus 25

"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Jesus, in Matthew 6:33-34

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:8

Little by little, I get glimpses of the future, fragments of plans among the oceans of possibility. But more common still is the sense that for the moment I am precisely where I need to be, and my lot at present is to live it out well. There are times of action and movement and change in life-- may we act boldly when required to! But so much of life is to be where we are and to live it well. Tomorrow will come, and we will receive it and make our plans and adjust accordingly, but God has given us only today. What will we do with it?

Hallelujah

"Hallelujah, hallelujah... whatever's in front of me, help me to sing hallelujah."
-Bethany Dillon

It's certainly been a week. A lot of things I thought were settled have become unsettled, things I thought were finished have become unfinished, things I thought were certain have become uncertain once again. It could have been an awful week. I could have cried a lot more tears than I did (granted, I did cry some). I could have become bogged down and overwhelmed and frustrated.

But, by the grace of the Lord, I instead spent the week becoming deeply acquainted with peace. Tangible peace, sweet peace, peace like a river. I'm back in a place (should be dear and familiar-- or at least just familiar-- to me by now) of having no idea what the future holds more than 6 months out from where I stand. I don't love this place. But I love Jesus, and I do trust Him, and I know what I need to do. Micah 6:8 again-- do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with my God. Not out in front of my God, not where my God tells me to go, but with my God. Study His word. Listen for His voice. Walk with Him throughout my days. Hallelujah.

And yes, whatever's in front of me, help me to faithfully sing hallelujah.

What is required of us?

I like to plan. I never really thought of myself as that much of a planner, and I never really wrote it all out and put it in concrete terms, but I really like to have a plan. This has become more evident in my life these past few years as less and less things have been certain about the future. I continue to plan out the way I think everything will unfold (the way I would like it to unfold...), to imagine it and count down the days until whatever plan comes to pass.

This is changing, slowly.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21)

I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with planning. I think we're called to be wise and to number our days. But when plans become an idol, something to cling to and repeat to ourselves when things seem uncertain, we've gone too far.

I couldn't really tell you what my life will look like more than about 4 months out at this point. I could guess, but that's where I fall back into planning again. But as the Lord gently pries my plans out of my fingertips, He does not leave me empty-handed:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

I don't know where I'm going, and I don't know what it will look like. I do know that I am to love justice and mercy and to walk humbly with my God, and that is enough.