Grace for Today

I am a planner. I live by my calendar. I love having things to look forward to. I am always looking ahead with excitement over whatever is coming that promises to be better than today. But often, to my own detriment, I focus too much on the future. I miss the exciting moments of the day because I am so hopeful about what lies ahead. Sometimes it is good to be a planner. Sometimes it just makes me plain crazy.

Intentionality and organization aside, excessive planning can sometimes cause me to focus too much on the hypothetical and not the real life moments happening in front of me. I can order my days around "What if this doesn't happen? How will I cope?" rather than trusting that the God who created me also knows my present and my future.

In this season of my life I have had to live by one simple motto: take it one day at a time. I have no need to worry about what will happen three months from now. The God who is faithful today will be faithful then. And what I need to recognize and embrace right now is that he has given me the exact grace I need for today. When the future becomes the present, he will give me the same grace then.

Lamentations 3:21-23 says:

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

Did you catch that? Every morning when I receive fresh mercies from God I can trust that tomorrow the exact mercy I need will come in the same abundance. Why? Because his steadfast love never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, and he is faithful. This truth we can be sure of: there is an endless supply of new mercies for every need we have each day. How comforting that the God over all cares so deeply for us that he gives us mercy to uniquely meet our needs for the day!

This great truth is a reminder that God's word is always true. His promises are sure and we can trust him. Charles Spurgeon knew this well when he said:

"God doesn't give his words merely to quiet us, and to keep us hopeful for a while with the intention of putting us off at last; but when He speaks, it is because He means to do as He has said."

Even if your trial today is great, God means to do what he says, namely give you new mercies for your suffering, new grace to face the day, and greater hope to trust in his unending and perfect faithfulness to those who are his.