Never before has tomorrow meant so much, and at the same time, meant so little. The potential of tomorrow drives our thoughts and dreams and motivates us in our choices and in our actions.
I have had the opportunity to pray and reflect on my life recently, and what I discovered was this idea of tomorrow. I found that most of my thoughts were rooted in the unfilled potential of tomorrow. My dreams of tomorrow were stealing my present reality.
When one focuses on tomorrow one tends to focus on self, and even worse, one tends to always look forward and never look at today. This looking forward steals the present from us, and we, then, never get to enjoy that current state of being. We are so rooted in tomorrow that we miss the beauty of today.
This idea has come to me inside my own living for tomorrow. While I was lamenting and mourning my current reality, God woke me from my slumber and opened my eyes to the life I was living and missing. I was missing the beauty of today. I was missing the sunshine, the green grass, my family's laughter, the smiles of the many people I encounter daily, the beauty of trees and so much more.
Many of you will read this and nod, assuming I am talking about someone else, but if you are doing that then, I am really talking to you because that nod is a nod of tomorrow; it is a nod I once had. Because you see, a sure sign of a life lived in the land of tomorrow is a lack of humility and a thought that you know what is best for you and everyone else. Then, there is a push away from personal responsibility and a push towards a spiritualized mindset rooted in the idea that this is what God ordains, and I am his instrument to impose this reality. What it ends up being is pride and arrogance hidden by what we think is biblical, but if you are like me, and you try connect the scripture dots what you will find is that your dots do not create a picture of Jesus, but instead, they become a picture of you. Then, you are sure, like I was, that there is no mistake, you are a citizen of the land of tomorrow.
As for me, my focus will now be on today, but it does not mean I discard tomorrow. A focus on today in know way discards the responsibilities of tomorrow as there are many, but it does mean that I am committed to not missing the beauty of today. I will now walk with open eyes to the beauties that God places in front of me, especially those that are vastly different than me or go against my grain of doing things my way. The older man in the gym who no one talks to because he is different... the car on the side of the road with a flat tire... the perceived arrogance of him or the off-centered personality of her... allowing my son to cut the grass his way and not mine... all these are signs that I am moving back to the land of today, but it is not easy.
I will no longer be afraid of today. The fear of today is always rooted in tomorrow, but living for today is resting in the providence of a Holy God and not in your own providence. It is hard to move back into today, but once you spend a few days in today you realized how miserable you were living in tomorrow, and how much you missed the land of today. Come and join the land of today and leave behind the pressure of unfilled potential and your perceived dreams for you and everyone else. Come live in the land of today and rest in God's dream for you and be who God created you to be and not who you think you ought to be.
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