Agenda for Today: Trusting God One Day at a Time
I don't know about you, but I would really prefer it if God would just give me the five-year plan. Actually, ten years would be better.
Preferably with a spreadsheet.
Here's what's going to happen with the kids. Here's what's going to happen with the finances. Here are all the problems and here are all the solutions.
Wouldn't that be nice? Then we could finally relax.
Of course, we'd probably just start wondering about year eleven and maybe that tells us something about ourselves.
We like to know what's coming. We like having a plan. We like the feeling that if we can just see far enough ahead, we'll finally be able to rest, but what happens when God doesn't give us the whole plan?
What happens when all we have is today?
Somewhere Between Egypt and Home
We're continuing our journey through the Exodus story, and today we find the Israelites in Exodus 16.
They've left Egypt.
They're no longer enslaved but they haven't arrived anywhere that feels settled yet.
They're in the wilderness and they're hungry. Not just a little hungry. These are real people, with real families, wondering how they're going to feed their children. They're facing a very practical problem and in their uncertainty, they begin remembering Egypt.
Suddenly, Egypt starts looking like a place where at least they had food.
Isn't that interesting?
The place they were desperate to escape begins to look appealing again. Because fear has a way of editing our memories. We remember the familiar comforts. We forget the things those comforts were costing us.
We start rewriting the past, making it seem safer or better than it really was and perhaps we've experienced that, too.
When the future feels uncertain, even the things we once wanted to leave behind can begin to look comforting.
Just Enough for Today
God responds to the Israelites' hunger by giving them manna. Bread they can gather in the morning but the instructions are interesting. They're to gather what they need for that day.
Not enough to map out the next five years. Not a storehouse that removes every possible uncertainty.
Just what they need for today. And tomorrow?
They'll return for tomorrow's provision.
It's a different kind of security than the kind we often want.
We want to know that everything is taken care of. We want to see the whole road. We want the answers before the questions even arrive but the Israelites are invited into a daily rhythm of receiving.
Gather what you need today.
And trust that tomorrow will have its own provision.
Give Us Today Our Daily Bread
Jesus teaches us to pray in much the same way.
"Give us today our daily bread."
Not give us everything we'll ever need so that we never have to wonder again.
Give us today.
There's something about that rhythm that feels both simple and difficult.
Because so much of our worrying isn't really about the day we're living.
We're replaying yesterday.
Revisiting the things we wish had gone differently.
Or we're rehearsing tomorrow.
Imagining conversations that haven't happened.
Trying to solve problems that haven't arrived.
Wondering what we'll do if something goes wrong.
And meanwhile, the actual day in front of us is barely being noticed.
We're so occupied with yesterday and tomorrow that we can miss what is available to us right now.
Planning Isn't the Problem
Of course, planning isn't a bad thing.
Planning helps us care for today and prepare for what's ahead.
There are responsibilities to consider, decisions to make, and things that require thought and attention.
But planning can't remove every uncertainty.
No matter how carefully we organize our calendars or prepare for the future, there will always be things we cannot predict or control.
And eventually, we have to ask ourselves a different kind of question.
What is mine to do today?
And perhaps just as importantly:
What am I carrying right now that I cannot solve today?
Those are different questions from asking how we can get everything figured out.
They invite us to pay attention to what is actually in front of us.
To recognize what we can do.
And to acknowledge what we may need to release for now.
Manna in the Wilderness
This becomes especially important when we're walking through a wilderness season.
Maybe it's grief.
A job transition.
A diagnosis.
A future we didn't choose.
There are seasons when even imagining the whole road ahead feels overwhelming.
We simply don't have the strength to think that far.
And perhaps we don't need to.
Because even when we can't imagine the whole journey, we can still receive help for this part of it.
Sometimes today's manna looks very ordinary.
Someone brings us a meal.
A friend sits with us and listens.
We find just enough energy to make the difficult phone call we've been putting off.
Or perhaps what we receive today is permission to stop.
To rest.
To recognize that we don't have to solve everything before the sun goes down.
These may not look like extraordinary moments.
But they can be exactly what sustains us.
And perhaps part of learning to trust God is learning to notice them.
What Is Today's Manna?
So here's a question worth asking:
What is today's manna?
What support is available to you right now?
What kindness have you received?
What strength has helped you through this day?
Maybe it wasn't everything you wanted.
Maybe it didn't solve the larger problem.
Maybe tomorrow still feels uncertain.
But was there something that helped carry you through today?
And there's another question, too.
Is there one way you could help provide that for someone else?
Maybe you could bring someone a meal.
Listen without trying to fix everything.
Offer a little encouragement.
Or help carry one small burden.
Sometimes the very ordinary things we offer one another become part of how we experience God's care.
Noticing What Sustained You
Here's a simple practice for tonight.
Before you go to bed, pause for a moment.
Think back over the day.
And name just one thing that helped carry you through it.
It doesn't have to be something big.
And you don't have to pretend the whole day was wonderful.
Perhaps it was a difficult day.
Perhaps you're still tired.
Perhaps the problems you woke up with are still there.
That's okay.
Just notice what sustained you.
A conversation.
A moment of rest.
A little unexpected kindness.
Enough strength for one necessary task.
One small thing that helped you get through.
Because noticing what we've received is part of learning to trust.
The Agenda for Today
Maybe God isn't going to give us the ten-year spreadsheet.
And perhaps even if He did, we'd still be worrying about year eleven.
But the story of manna reminds us that we can learn another rhythm.
Receiving what we need for today.
Doing what is ours to do today.
Noticing the ways we're being sustained.
And trusting God with tomorrow.
So perhaps our prayer can be a simple one:
God, help us receive what You give us for today.
Help us enjoy it.
Help us be nourished by it.
Help us notice what is sustaining us.
And help us trust You for tomorrow.
Give us this day our daily bread.
