"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia." —Charles M. Schulz - Cartoonist
Like many churches, The Warehouse began 2025 with prayer and fasting. Corporately and individually, we invest this time to deny our flesh, humble ourselves, and set our minds and spirits to hear from the LORD. Isaiah 58 talks about fasting as an opportunity to loose the chains of injustice, to set the oppressed free, to share food, clothing, and shelter with those in need, and to restore our relationships. It is a chance for our light and righteousness to shine. When we call on God, He will answer. There is trouble all over the world. Some wars are ceasing—others are in full engagement. There is political turmoil here and abroad, and natural disasters are everywhere. I mean... it's snowing in Texas! Folks are becoming filled with anxiety about their personal and professional lives, as well as what is going on in the culture.
One verse of the LORD's prayer asks, "Give us THIS DAY our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11) The words 'this day' and 'today' have been ringing in my mind. TODAY - means on or in the course of this present day; or at the present period of time. I felt reassured by the truth that you can only live THIS DAY...really this moment. As much as we want to prognosticate about what will happen in 2025, over the next four years, or how our children and grandchildren will be affected in the future...all we can live out is TODAY. We've seen in just a few short weeks how lives and livelihoods can be dismantled and destroyed in a single day by fires, or by someone somewhere turning off an app platform. Proverbs 27:1 tells us, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
James called moving too far off in our predictions prideful and presumptuous:
13Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16, NLT)
I was struck by how much I'd begun to trust in my own plans: goal setting, retirement, insurance, etc. If we've learned anything over the past few weeks, it's that so much is beyond our control. That's why we need the LORD and each other. After Jesus taught His disciples about prayer and fasting; He told them (in the midst of exile under Roman rule)...not to be anxious about anything. Don't worry about food, clothing, shelter, or supply. Don't try to accumulate and store up treasures on earth, but store them up in Heaven.Jesus said concerns about tangible things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your Heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God first (above all else), and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:19-33) I remember a time before I got so smart...when I lived closer to this kind of reverence and dependence...do you? At the end of Matthew 6, Jesus encouraged His followers, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." (v. 34)
ENJOY TODAY...tomorrow is not promised. |
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