One Day At A Time

Brenda and I have made numerous trips to Plainview, TX to watch the Wayland Baptist Pioneer football team play. We have many more trips to make. Now for the first time, we have three sons playing on the very same football team. We have seen two of our boys play on teams in the past. Never three. That is what we have to look forward this next season. Taylor, Tanner and Tucker are all playing for the Pioneers next season God willing. They are all there now working hard in the off season program. Taylor has graduated college but had one year of eligibility left. He is now working on his Maters degree. Tanner will be a senior next year and Tucker a sophomore. Turner still has two years left in high school.

From Runaway  Bay there is no great way to get to Plainview. No matter how you slice it the trip is about four hours. I would say 75% of the drive is down two lane highways. Very frustrating when trying to get past slow moving traffic. At one point you leave U.S. Hwy 82 and travel down county roads carved out between cotton fields. No kidding.

On game days those trips start early and end typically around midnight. Because the games are always on Saturdays that means less sleep before preaching the following morning.

Many times on those trips I push forward in my mind and dream about pulling into the driveway and getting into bed. Then I come back to reality and realize I still have a ways to drive. One mile at a time. There are no fast forwards when traveling by vehicle. Even if you speed you still have to travel one mile at a time.

It reminds me of life. I confess I am always thinking ahead. Even in the car. I can pull out onto a road and already be thinking about what lane I need to be in for my next turn or what intersections are more difficult than others. Always looking ahead. I do this in life too. Wondering what is ahead and asking for details about the future.

I guess if a person were to go back and read my prayer journals one day they'd see much of my praying has been devoted to wanting to know the future. Asking for clarity and details. Seeking the next bend in the highway and fork in the road.

Today I was convicted. From a passage I love dearly.

Genesis 12:1 (ESV)
1  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

Abraham did not receive one detail about the future but he followed anyway. God simply said, "Go and I will show." Another passage about this same incident gives a little more clarity.

Hebrews 11:8 (ESV)
8  By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Abraham obeyed God by faith one day at a time. He did not know where God wanted him ultimately. So day in and day out he sought, he listened and he followed what God gave him for that day. It reminds me of another verse applicable for those of us obsessed with the future.

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

That lamp and light may only give enough illumination for the next few steps. God may only give us enough direction for the day. If we seek God's direction for all our days and follow Him fully can God get us to His desired destination. He did that for Abraham. He did that for Joseph and Moses. He did it for Joshua. He did it for Samuel and David. He did it for Elijah.

If we focus on seeking God daily, remaining sensitive to His leadership and then obey what God directs us to do I am confident we will all end up where God intended us to be. When I look back at the decades of frustrated praying trying to discern things God was not ready to reveal I am saddened and ashamed. I think many times I convinced myself of God's intended future without His revealing it to me. He just wanted me to follow Him that day. How many things did I miss because my mind stayed preoccupied on the future?

There is a freedom in not knowing the future and following God one day at a time. It takes off the pressure off to make sure we get things right. All we have to do is seek God daily. When He speaks we obey and follow. One day at a time sweet Jesus. That is what He desires and all we need. One day at a time.