TODAY’S TWO ROADS

Our daily map offers two roads: one of joy and one of worry. Both carry us toward the same destination -- the end of the day -- but they shape us differently as we travel. Worry fixates on what might happen, draining our strength with imagined futures and burdens we were never meant to carry.

Joy, however, meets us in the present. It doesn’t promise certainty or offer guarantees, yet it reveals itself in small, surprising ways -- moments of mercy, beauty, and grace that appear almost out of nowhere. Joy is drenched in possibility, inviting us to live the day we’ve been given rather than fear the one we cannot see.

Both roads lead to the same sunset. But only one allows us to arrive with a heart that has actually lived. And here is the quiet truth Scripture keeps repeating: God is found on the road of joy, not the road of worry.  Not because He abandons us when we worry, but because worry blinds us to His nearness.

Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow… each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NIV) He wasn’t dismissing our concerns -- He was inviting us to walk the road where He is most clearly seen.

-- Based on a quote by Ray Waddle in “The Upper Room Disciplines 2001”

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TODAY IS THE DAY

Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”  (Matthew 16:24 NIV)

Jesus calls us to take up a cross and die. Not someday when we take our last breath, but to die to ourselves today…

Bruce Thielemann is an author, he wrote these words, “Please don’t say anything to me about tomorrow. Tomorrow is a word the Bible does not know. The Holy Spirit’s word is “today.” The Bible says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). And Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

Today is the day of salvation. Don’t say tomorrow. The word is “today.” 

-- Adapted from “Not a Fan” Study by Kyle Idleman

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ANTICIPATING OUR TOMORROWS

“Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:13-14 NRSV)

The sure sign that we have an authentic relationship with God is that we believe more in the future than in the past. The past can be neither a source of confidence nor a condemnation. God graciously divided our life into days and years so that we could let go of yesterdays and anticipate our tomorrows. For the past mistakes, God offers forgiveness and an ability to forget. For our tomorrows, He gives us the gift of expectation and excitement. 

-- Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie in “God’s Best for My Life”

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THIS IS THE DAY

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) In other words, don’t wait around for another day! This is the only day we are sure of.

Accept with gratitude this day! Embrace the joys of this day! Seize the opportunities of this day! Commit your life to God this day!

Now please don’t misunderstand me. I am not singing the old hedonist song, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.” That’s not what this is about. No! Rather, it’s about seeing life in this world as a generous gift from God. It’s about recognizing each day we have as a gracious gift from God and celebrating that, and seizing the precious opportunities it offers. 

-- James W. Moore and Bob J. Moore in “Lord, Give Me Patience!... And Give It to Me Right Now!”

#4910

STRENGTH FOR TODAY

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”  (Matthew 6:34 The Message)

That last phrase is worthy of your highlighter: “When the time comes.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do if my husband dies.” You will, when the time comes.

When my children leave the house, I don’t think I can take it.” It won’t be easy, but strength will arrive when the time comes.

“I could never lead a church. There is too much I don’t know.” You may be right. Or you may be wanting to know everything too soon. Could it be that God will reveal answers to you when the time comes?

The key is this: Meet today’s problems with today’s strength. Don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet. You simply have enough for today.

-- Max Lucado in “Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear -- The Promise of Psalm 23”

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LEAVE THE FUTURE TO GOD

Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  (Matthew 6:34 NIV)

It has been well said that no [one] ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than [one] can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God’s. He begs you to leave the future to Him and mind the present.

-- George MacDonald in “Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood”

#4695

GOD'S DAYS

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  (Matthew 6:34 NIV)

There are two days in the week upon which, and about which I do not worry -- two carefree days kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday, with its cares and frets and pains and aches, all its faults, its mistakes and blunders, has passed forever beyond my recall. It was mine; it is God's.

The other day that I do not worry about is Tomorrow. Tomorrow, with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its perils, its large promise and performance, its failures and mistakes, is as far beyond my mastery as its dead sister, Yesterday. Tomorrow is God's Day; it will be mine.

There is left, then, for myself but one day in the week -- Today. Any person can fight the battles of today. Any woman can carry the burdens of just one day; any man can resist the temptations of today. It is only when we willfully add the burdens of these two awful eternities -- Yesterday and Tomorrow -- such burdens as only the Mighty God can sustain -- that we break down.

It isn't the experience of Today that drives people mad. It is the remorse of what happened Yesterday and the fear of what Tomorrow might bring. These are God's Days -- leave them to Him.

-- Unknown, quoted by Doris W. Greig in “We Didn't Know They Were Angels”


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GETTING CLOSER TO GOD

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  (Acts 3:19 NIV)

Ask yourself if what you're doing today is getting you closer to God or further away; closer to where you want to be tomorrow or further away.

-- Unknown

#4362

FINISHING THE DAY… AND THE YEAR

Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson


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