“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
Our lives are but a grand procession of moments. Some moments that take our hearts soaring above the clouds and point us toward heaven; others descend upon us with crushing blows that beat us to our knees and drain our hearts of all that we know as good. There are moments that we etch in our hearts as once-in-a-lifetime moments, coupled with those difficult ones that fill our hearts with numbness and grief.
And somewhere in between are the bittersweet moments we can’t categorize. Often when we look back at a crushing sorrow we see the holy paradox of tender loving moments interspersed with painful ones. We see how a difficult experience drew us closer to those we love. We embrace a deeper compassion and understanding for those around us as we watch them stumble under the load of their own crushing moments. Like never before, we see the way God walks with us when we are least able and how the body of Christ surrounds us when our prayer is no more than a desperate plea for help or a whimpering cry in the darkness. We see how God’s silent strength cradles our souls as He scoops us up in His arms and mends our broken hearts with His grace. Little by little, moment by moment, we see the good shine brightest when contrasted with darkness. Somewhere between the richest blessing and the most crushing setback we recognize the presence of the eternal in our every moment.
We pray that our todays won’t slip by unnoticed because we are so engrossed with tomorrow or preoccupied with yesterday. Today may be our lifetime! Today may be all that we have. We must not waste its moments in anxiety over tomorrow or allow it to be swallowed by fears dictated by our past. Tomorrow is God’s secret; it must pass by Him before it gets to us. Today is ours to live!
The time for doing and for living is now. We must let go of the worries and burdens built upon our yesterdays and tomorrows, for they are what undermine our faith and cause us to lose today. It isn’t the experience of today that threatens our sanity, but remorse over yesterday and the dread of tomorrow. We must learn to live one day at a time knowing that the same God who saw us through yesterday, guides us through today, and prepares us for tomorrow. As faith grows, we gradually realize that our strength lies not in what we have, but rather in what we are willing to surrender to God.
We don’t have to carry the weight of our past into today, for it belongs faithfully surrendered at the feet of God. The time to live is now. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may not come, but we have today. Today may be our once in a lifetime!
Dear Lord, how I tend to waste the moments of today caught between the pain of yesterday and the dread of tomorrow. Help me to let go of the past and begin to recognize Your presence in my every moment. Help me to live for You as if TODAY is my once in a lifetime.
Written by Debbie Meece in conjunction with David’s “Once in a Lifetime” CD
Lyrics to “Once in a Lifetime ” | Listen
From the “Once in a Lifetime” Devotional
