“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34, NIV)
Golf is a funny game because it is not reactionary like most other sports. Every shot executed throughout the round depends solely on the player making it. But the ultimate outcome of the shot is subject to many uncontrollable variables. Unlike other sports, there is no defense in golf. Worrying about what might happen does nothing but distract the player from making the best swing possible.
Sounds a lot like life away from the game. There is no defense to protect us from every bad thing that could happen to us. None of us will ever experience most of what we worry about—but we sure can waste a lot of time trying to control those things we fear the most! That is not the best life we can live or the one that God has in mind for us.
Jesus, in our verse for today, cuts right to the chase. Don’t waste time worrying about tomorrow, because God is in charge of everything and is completely aware of what lies ahead. So what we fundamentally need to decide is whether we can truly trust God to do what he says he will do. For the answer to that question, we can simply look at the cross. God was so in love with his creation that he laid his life down for it. Instead of getting what we deserve for all the sinful things we have done, we can receive his mercy and grace. We can be empowered to live an extraordinary life, a life of certainty in a world of uncertainty.
God is the ultimate way maker and knows precisely what needs to happen in this moment to accomplish his purposes for us.What a relief it is to give up trying to control our future. We cannot know what will happen next, and no amount of worry will change the future.
We can dwell on the past; but if we are believers in Jesus, we know that all that has transpired before has been absorbed in the grace of God, as he freely forgives our bad choices and sinful behavior.
That just leaves the present, where we can live in his grace and mercy all the days of our life. The present is all we can control. We can decide to seek God’s leading and try to hear his voice in the moment. We can look back at the past and see God’s merciful protection. We can think about the future and make plans knowing that God ultimately controls what happens to us next. We can rest in the fact that God loves us so much that nothing will happen to us outside of his control.
We are never on our own even when it seems like there is no way forward. God is the ultimate way maker and knows precisely what needs to happen in this moment to accomplish his purposes for us. The only way we can miss it is to try to live out of the mindset that we must control everything in our own strength. We cannot and never were intended to bear that burden. We are the beloved of God ,and he can be trusted to see us through to the end. We may go over rough terrain, but he will never let go of our hand.
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Let’s leave our future in the hands of the only one powerful enough to handle it.
—
Linda Ballard
October 8, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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