"Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:34)
If you've seen the movie, Annie, you recognize my title as a line from the great song of hope she sings in the depressing orphanage where she lives with other poor, ill-fed urchins. The good thing about tomorrow, she sings, is that it's actually "only a day away." That's true, but most of us would rather look at tomorrow with a far stronger telescope. Like Annie, we love tomorrow, especially the when it's all laid out for us. When it comes to the will of God for our lives, we want a prospectus, not a day-planner. But that's not the way God works, as Matthew 6:34 indicates.
Will you agree with me that the Christian life is to be a walk of faith? What better way is there to show our faith than to acknowledge that God is working out His plan for us, in both the good and bad times of our lives, and so there are no missteps. There is obedience and disobedience to direct, Biblical commands; but there are no missteps. In other words, God is more interested in how I live than where I live. Expecting anything more definitive than this may only indicate a lack of faith. Kevin DeYoung [i] explains it this way:
"Our fascination with the will of God often betrays our lack of trust in God's promises and provision. We don't just want His word that He will be with us; we want Him to show us the end from the beginning and prove to us that He can be trusted. We want to know what tomorrow will bring instead of being content with simple obedience on the journey (DeYoung, 47).
Does this mean we should not bother to seek the mind of the Lord when we plan to move somewhere else? Of course not. God has provided us with the means to make wise decisions; and I promise we will get to those. What I am saying, however, is that if we end up in Des Moines instead of Dallas, our whole life will not be ruined, and we can glorify God wherever we are.
Someone has said, "We either have to know the future, or know someone who does." I've come to terms with that and found peace. I do know Someone who knows the future, and He has promised, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Psl.32:8). With His eternal eye, God has a much better view of my future; and my proximity to Him will determine the spiritual precision of my movements. It's as simple as that.
[i] DeYoung, Kevin. Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009
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