"YESTERDAY IS GONE, AND TOMORROW IS NOT YET GIVEN. TODAY IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS GIVEN TO US, [OUR DAILY PORTION]."
...the beautifully spoken words of Elisabeth Elliot.
This post is dedicated to anyone finding themselves in a dry spot, or feeling as if their life is currently on hold: I just wanted to share what God has been revealing to me through this season of waiting.
Lately, I’ve struggled with patience. I have such intricate aspirations, dreams, notions, and ambitions that I’ve planned for my life, and it's really hard when God, Creator of the universe, tells me to wait. It's also been challenging, because it's my senior year of high school, and senioritis has hit me hard.
A few weeks ago, I was really wrestling with the idea of being single... I was having a hard time being positive about it, and I was beginning to let myself feel lonely. I must have really been in my feelings about it, because I prayed that God would spare my feelings from anyone until the time was right. I let go of my plans, and I laid down my desire to be in a relationship. I'm not saying that I no longer have my days of feeling lonely... I'm saying that I have committed myself to pursuing God's plan for me and allowing Him to lead me. A few days after I had prayed that specific prayer, I was sitting in a coffee shop with my dear friend from school. We are both in the same boat, and we were talking about our struggles with living "the single life". As we were talking, I heard God speak to me. He explicitly told me that this season I am in is a calling and a gift, and that I should not waste the time given to me. But the thing that blew me away the most is when He told me that my season of singleness is almost over, and that I am still called to be faithful until it's over.
Honestly it took me a few days to process. I went back-and-forth between thinking I had told myself those things, and that I did indeed hear from God. Especially the part about "my season of being single is almost over", because that is something that I've been longing to hear and I just couldn't believe that I actually heard it. I know now it was God speaking to me, because I felt such a peace about it. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt ok with the fact that I am single, and would be for as long as God willed it.
But this post isn't about singleness: it only plays a small part in what I have to say.
I immediately started praying for opportunities to be faithful. After all, God had told me to be faithful in this season. And I'll be real, I hear that phrase so often: Be faithful in what you're given. It's become such a numb phrase to me, and I never actually considered its meaning. I didn't know what it meant to be faithful. I was praying for something that I didn't understand, which can be dangerous because if I don't know what to look for, I could miss the opportunities that God presents today.
So what does it mean to be faithful?
The other day I was listening to a lecture by Elisabeth Elliot, called Is Singleness a Gift or a Problem?, and she really hit the nail on the head when she said "Singleness is a gift for today, as God gives us one day at a time. Tomorrow does not belong to us yet, and yesterday has already gone".
It just made me stop and think about everything... we really are only given one day at a time. So what are we going to do with the portion assigned to us today?
I'll admit, I originally listened to the podcast because I wanted biblically based encouragement for being single (which I did get by the way). But while listening, I was built up in so many other ways. Today is the day the Lord has given us.
The notion that we are only given one day at a time is so simple, yet so profound. It is terribly easy to get caught up in thinking about the future; I often find myself spending half of my time dreaming a few years ahead, rather than focusing on what God would have for me today. This mindset has truly changed me: I no longer see waiting as a curse, because I know that time is a God-given gift.
The thing is, we are not promised a tomorrow: tomorrow does not belong to us (yet). If we spend our days looking ahead, we might miss the beautiful lessons and moments of today (I know that sounds basic, but it's so true). God wants to use us now, and He wants to meet us right where we are.
And with that in mind, we can be faithful in each day by simply trusting that He knows our tomorrows, and that we can choose Him every day. As Christians, we are called to pick up our crosses and follow after Christ. In simpler terms, we are called to live by the life of Jesus Christ.
"Taking up the cross is no great action done once — it is the faithful carrying out of small duties that are distasteful to us"
Today is the day the Lord has given us, and we are called to be faithful by taking up our crosses and following Him. Today is a gift, and we shouldn't spend it by looking towards tomorrow, as it does not belong to us yet.
I've had to remind myself that obsession isn't faith. If I claim to surrender my life, and if I claim to trust God with my tomorrows, worrying will never play a part of that. Obsession isn't faith, and worrying isn't trust. We can pray for our futures, but ultimately it is in the hands of the One who has written our names in the stars (Luke 10:20). It is in the hands of the Author and Finisher of my faith (Hebrews 12:2).
So yes, today I am called to be single. Today, I am called to be faithful. I am called to choose Christ's sufficiency over everything else, and I am called to trust that He knows how to bring the right person to me at the right time. But my faithfulness runs so much deeper than simply waiting on a man: my job is to be a light, an example, and an instrument in the Kingdom of Heaven.
For the longest time, I didn't know what my "calling" was. I thought that God would have a big, specific job for me to do... but I failed to see just how simple the will of God is. He wants our hearts, and He calls us to be faithful. He might have specific and unique callings for each of us, but until He decides to reveals that to us, we can fall back on the one thing that we do know: live by the life of Jesus Christ. It is the same calling for every Believer.
Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is not yet ours: today is the day the Lord has given to us. He is our daily portion for now and forever.
So what are you going to do with the portion assigned to you, today?
emma k
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