I’ll start tomorrow.
The famous last words.
<Cue fork hitting brownie>
If I had a quarter for all of the times I’ve said or thought them in my life I would probably have enough money for my own personal giraffe.
“Tomorrow I will start spending less time on my phone. Tomorrow I will start running again. Tomorrow I will wake up early and spend an extra hour praying”… If you’re anything like me then you can fill in the blanks for your own life.
As I’m sitting here eyeing my empty cup with the frothy remnants of a soy strawberry frappe the famous phrase rings in my ears like a familiar tune. I tell myself that tomorrow I will start spending money on only basic survival necessities. After all, I’m on the world race and I should be living by the bare essentials. Right!?
The problem is, most of the time tomorrow comes and goes and either whatever change I hoped to make only lasts a few days and then the momentum fizzles out or I simply keep giving myself extended grace periods and convinving myself I will …you guessed it. start. tomorrow. Being across the world is no exception. I learned a long time ago the race can’t fix me. Because as my famous line goes “wherever you go, there you are.”
I asked, “Why, Lord? What is the deal!?” I could be wrong, but I felt like I heard it’s a spirit of delay. Basically, a lie attempting to get people to miss God’s plans by tricking us into thinking we can do whatever we want now because we will compensate for it later; and that there will be ample time in the future for that to happen. The problem is, by putting things off in this way we can give ourselves an excuse to sin or miss the very best God has for us in the current moment.
Matthew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Something the Lord has been teaching me lately is not to focus on the past or future but to be fully present wherever I am. How can I put something off until tomorrow when it isn’t even guaranteed. I need His help NOW in this moment to do the very best next thing.
We can give ourselves grace and be patient with ourselves as God is patient with us.
When I don’t see immediate results I tend to throw in the towel and assume it’s not worth it. Like checking to see if my 6-pack has arrived 10 minutes into my ab workout. But, what I feel like the Lord is saying is that even if we can’t see immediate results to keep on going and trust things are shifting in the spiritual realm each time we choose obedience in the smallest of things.
So, instead of being future minded we can shift the focus to “what do you have for me in this moment, Lord?” and then walk in that way by the power of the Holy Spirit. (My own willpower fails me a lot of the time, but Gods power never does). If the Lord permits, today will turn into some tomorrow’s and todays obedience will pay off.
“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year…how 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…Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” -James 4:13-17
Thanks for reading my thoughts as I walk through some self discipline in different areas this month. As always, take anything that speaks to your heart and leave the rest…Love Jenna!
