Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
What is our responsibility as Christians? If we believe God is truly in control and it is better to yield our will to His, then we are to put our tomorrow and our today into His all-wise, all-knowing and loving hands. But, does that mean we should not plan for the future?
It is easy to slip into a carpe diem (live for today) attitude and lift our eyes Heavenward saying, “God takes care of the lilies of the field, he will care of me.” There is great truth in that. Before that passage in Matthew 6 it says to not be anxious about anything in our lives. But, it ends with seeking His kingdom above all else. In other words, we are to actively seek, take action, do our part.
I was watching the Christian movie Facing the Giants. A faith-filled man would go by the halls of this school every day and pray as he ran his hands along the lockers of the students. He told the coach he was plowing the field for these students’ future, that they would all come to know Jesus as their Lord. There were two farmers, he explained, who prayed for rain. But only one plowed the field in preparation for the rain to come. That was the farmer with more faith.
How can we prepare our fields in prayer? God may not always give us what we want, but He will always provide what we need. Our responsibility is to believe He will act. We need to —
P – Pray. Through prayer we put it all back into God’s hands when we have a tendency to grab it back.
L – Listen for His response. To many times we make our prayers one-sided conversations. We hang up before we allow Him to speak and give us directions or fill our hurting soul with His presence.
O – Observe the small ways He taps on you on the shoulder to remind you He loves you, knows your needs and is right there beside you working in your situation.
W – Wait upon the Lord and do not give up hope.
The bridesmaids who prepared their lamps for the bridegroom were considered wise. They didn’t know when he was coming, but they knew he would. They stayed prepared. They knew their responsibility. It was the same one John the Baptizer called out- prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Heavenly Father, teach me how to rely on you but show me what I must do to prepare for the blessings You will bestow on me. In all things, good or bad, help me to give You the glory, do my best at what is my responsibility to do right now, and trust without reservations that You have plans to bring the rains in due season to bless my field. Help me plow in preparation with confidence. Through Jesus’ name – Amen.
