In the moment

I was raking worries along with leaves this lovely fall day until I remembered the wonderful words from scripture: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

I have never been like the goofy-looking kid from Mad Magazine whose theme song was: “What? Me worry?” So, sometimes I need a poke in my spirit from God, like the one I got this morning.

I am obsessed with planning. I believe planning is good, but sometimes I let it get control of me.

I am a bit like my great-uncle who once said, before giving a speech: “I am practicing my spontaneous asides.”

I believe fear is part of the problem. I worry that things may go wrong.

But God tells us that we can’t live that way. We need to look to him and put our hands in his and let him lead us.

Jesus says in Matthew 6 that we are not to worry about whether we will eat or drink or be clothed tomorrow. He tells his followers that God cares for us even more than he does for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field which he created.

He concludes this little speech with these timeless words in verses 33 and 34:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have its own worries. Today’s troubles are enough for today.”

In other words, I am to live in the moment, trusting God to take me through whatever lies ahead. My job is keep my eyes on him.

Years ago, we put up a little plaque in a guest bathroom which contains these words from the poem “God Knows” by Minnie Louise Haskins, a young British woman writing at the end of the 1800s:

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
Give me a light
That I may tread safely into the Unknown.
And he replied
Go out into the Darkness
And put your hand into the Hand of God
That shall be to you
Better than light
And safer than the known way.”

England’s King George VI quoted these words in a radio broadcast during the darkest days of the Second World War.

Words to live by.

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