This Is the Day

Can’t go back to the beginning
Can’t control what tomorrow will bring
But I know here in the middle
Is a place where You promise to be
“Here Again”

Elevation Worship

This song y’all. Doesn’t it just speak right to your heart and where this year has us all? Go listen to the whole song, plus all of Elevation Worship’s new “Graves into Gardens” album if you haven’t. So anointed, so timely.

2020, the year we’d all like to be done with, to return, to start over. We started the year with vision being the theme, with seeing perfectly and having 2020 vision being our anthem. Me oh my, how quickly has that perspective changed. Many of us can’t even see where we are headed and many find ourselves longing for the the past, the way things once were.

Hindsight is certainly 2020. If we’d have known how this year was going to go down thus far, or if we could see into the future, how many of us would have done things differently? How many of us would vow to never take some of life’s simple pleasures for granted after having so much of what we know shut down and taken away? I know I’d be one that would quickly agree with the “had I known” statements.

Really though, just as the lyrics from the worship song I started with say, we can’t go back to the beginning, nor do we know what tomorrow will bring. None of us are promised tomorrow, we are only filled with enough grace for the day, for TODAY.

“This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭118:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So again in hindsight, in all of this talk of 2020 vision, the year to see things clearly, the year that it all comes together, can you honestly now say that seeing actually equals believing? Does seeing clearly really help us understand all that life throws our way? I honestly don’t think so. Not that this is an ignorance is bliss kind of thing, but I believe that it is the unseen, the believing in spite of what we don’t understand, having faith in God, and the rejoicing in today, that strengthens our faith and ultimately causes all things to work together for our good.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

I struggled tremendously in 2019. My goodness I won’t bore you with the trauma, drama, and stress that came last year, but let’s just say after my husband moved miles away to start a new job, up ahead of us being able to join him, and away from us for a good 7 1/2 months of that year, there was much to deal with from all of the change, abnormal, and unseen. There was even talk of running away and never coming back (definitely on my part-I’m sure you’re surprised) and even striking a match to and burning the house down because contrary to what the Terminix professional shared, I still don’t believe there is a “good kind of termites”…

I digress though and again would rather not get into it all and blow your mind with the crazy that ensued the moment my husband left, not to mention all the things that went so “perfectly” even after we were reunited. Let’s just say, very little about 2019 was full of butterflies and rainbow kind of moments. I just kept looking forward to better days, to getting through the bad ones, and moving into the times where everything would all finally fall together.

While 2020 was a new year, a clean slate, and a chance to leave all the crazy behind, I feel as if my expectations for the future, for a new thing were clearly just way too high. Can I get an amen? From the beginning I was struggling to adjust, struggling to heal, struggling to see what God had for us in this new year, in this new place, in this new season and now, right as I felt like I was making connections, meeting new friends, getting in the groove of a new normal, things came to an abrupt halt.

I find myself now instead of looking forward to the rest of the year full of vision and hope, I am looking backward wishing things were how they used to be. Yeah, read that again, I find myself wishing things were how they used to be. And I admit that right after writing how badly I couldn’t wait for last year to be over and after I just told you how most of last year was full of trauma, drama, and struggle. Makes perfect sense right?

First, I can’t wait to get out of my current situation, then, once God brings me through such hell into the here and now, I find myself longing for what was. The unseen is too much, the hope for a better year has proven to be empty, so why not just take me on back to what was?

This is no way to live. Yet, it’s exactly what we as a people do. We spend the today, the here and now either longing for the past or hoping for the future. We see this in ourselves and we see it all through scripture as God’s chosen people have been rescued from slavery in Egypt and brought to the promise land, yet they find themselves always wanting more, even at times wanting to return to what was (see Numbers 14). They unnecessarily wandered, they sinned, they fell, and they worst of all grieved the heart of God, all because they refused to put their hope and trust in Him, to rejoice and be grateful for what He had given them and see Him in the now.

I don’t know about you, but especially after 60+ days in quarantine, I don’t want to spend another day wishing, worrying, taking things for granted, or most of all, apart from God. I am most of the time a nervous wreck. I can, at very little times, just slow down and be in the now. I am a planner, I want things to be perfect and I am always hoping to get one thing done or planned that can bring me joy. In doing this, I can admit that just like God’s chosen people through scriptures, I am missing out on Him and what He has for me now. I’m sure that you’re much like me, that especially after these past few months, you feel like you’ve missed out on enough. Don’t miss out on God. Right where you are, right now, I encourage you to seek Him.

“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”‭‭

Deuteronomy‬ ‭4:29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is the day that the Lord has made. He is in the here and now. All you have to do is seek Him, for He is there. May we remember today, and with every day a new, that THIS is the day, in the here and now, between what was and what will be, to rejoice, to seek God, to be covered by His grace, and to be glad.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭MSG‬‬