The future. What will happen? Today, tomorrow, this weekend, next week, next year? Tonight? How do we cope with the unknowns of life? Or rather, how do control freaks like me deal with it? We try not to think about it. But that doesn’t always work. All it takes is, well, thinking about it.
As intelligent beings we try to control the future. We make plans. We get ready for possible outcomes. We fill our homes with enough food and water to last three months. I heard once that when we make plans, God laughs. Not always, I don’t think, but certainly sometimes. We think we can control the future. Spoiler alert – we can’t. And that makes people who get that very nervous. What to do? In a word, surrender. Control the things you can control, like preparing for disaster, being flexible for various outcomes, being mentally prepared for when things don’t go well. Then relax and let go.
I like the word surrender because it connotes freedom to me. Freedom from worry, anxiety, stress. Freedom to enjoy the present while you surrender to the future, whatever the future will bring. Does that solve everything? No, of course not. There are some things we are never prepared to face. You can’t prepare. Then you have to go into coping mode, doing what you can to get through it. You take comfort in friends, family and God. You pray, not only for things to get better but to have the strength to get through it. And then surrender.
Nothing is certain. Nothing lasts forever. There are no guarantees. I was thinking about this the other day and decided that the only way to get through this unpredictable life is to surrender to it. For believers, that means surrendering to God’s plan, knowing that he makes all things work for the good of those who love and follow him. Time to trust.
Even with all of that going for us, it does not make it any easier to deal with things that hit us in the face when we least expect it. The only thing I can suggest when that happens is to go deep. Inside of you are all the tools you need to get through anything, yes, anything. Stay close to God and know you are not alone.
This sounds a bit depressing, doesn’t it? Let’s go back to the beginning, before anything happened to us. Surrender your need to control the future because you can’t control the future. Prepare mentally for possibilities. Prepare physically, emotionally for different outcomes. Then live your life knowing that something greater than you is at work in your life and has your best interests at hand. Our job is to live a good life, love and share with others and leave a positive mark on as many hearts as we can. Break off the shackles pinning you down and fly! God says, “Go love on people! I’ve got you! Be free!” We were not meant to spend our days in worry about what might or might not happen. Now go live your life! God bless.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34
Good one, Sarah,