10/25/2022
Home again, home again, jiggety jig. At least that’s what the old nursery rhyme says. And it’s true … for the most part.
Saying goodbye to Will, his wife Michaela, and our new grandbaby Karuna, didn’t feel much like “jiggety jig.”
When our kids were growing up, I used to say to them on a daily basis before I left for work, “Just remember to `be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’” (Joshua 1:9).
As we were saying our goodbyes a few days ago, I grabbed Will by the shoulders and said, “Will, just remember to be strong and courageous.” I started to cry and could barely say the rest, “Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Saying goodbye is hard when you don’t know exactly when you will see each other again. But God sustains us, and He gives us His grace. Much of life is spent in the uncertainty of what will come next—pain or pleasure, hardship or ease.
This is why choosing to trust in the Certain One in the land of uncertainty gives us strength to sustain and joy to amaze.
Laura and I arrived home three days ago, and I decided then and there I was going to do a better job living in the present and not in the past … or the future. If I dwell on the past, I get depressed in the present. If I dwell on the future, I get anxious about everything yet to come which is far beyond my control.
And so I choose not to “worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34). I also choose not to dwell on the past, because God is doing a new thing, and I don’t want to miss it (Isaiah 43:18-19).
We have two months before the books are closed on 2022. How will you live them—dwelling on the past or worrying about the future? I have a better idea. Let’s live in the present. Let’s get back to a healthy rhythm of work/rest, action/sabbath. I read this past week that the reason Sabbath is so important is because you can’t fill a moving cup.
I don’t know about you, but it’s time for me to get rowing again. It’s been said before that the only guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat. Let’s row together in a healthy rhythm, and we shall go far. No more rowing in circles and wasting time rocking the boat. Who wants to be part of a sinking ship?
Forward we go, out to deep sea;
Each of us rowing, gathering speed.
The wind in our sails, the sun shining bright;
Our eyes fixed on Jesus, our own guiding light.
