You and I have the privilege of getting up every morning
and spending time with the Lord none of us know what tomorrow holds
and so how do we want to start tomorrow how do we want to be sure how do we want to be able to live
peacefully confidently boldly productively fruitfully tomorrow by starting off the day
with the one who will give us guidance and direction enable us in every single way
what does he want first he wants you just you alone no iPhone no telephones at all no iPad
and no computers and no this and no that no that all the things that jam and crowd us
he just wants you and let me just say this to you don't you think God deserves your undistracted
undistracted attention and when I look at all the benefits
of just solitude just you and God number one it'll make your busy days much more fruitful
busy active days much more fruitful why as you begin the day with him and you're listening to him
and God is guiding you and leading you because you opened your heart mind to him they're going
to be more productive secondly he repairs the damage that is let's say you've had one of those
days and you come home you think I can't handle him all this and what happens time of solitude
drains all of that out and this idea of I can't and he won't they will no just give him time
it's like it's like sometimes he squeezes it out of us it's like sometimes he pulls the drain and
it just pours out and what happens is we're free and we're liberated and that's the benefit of just
being alone with him listen God's not uptight there's not anything about us he can't fix
and he will fix it if we give him time so what it just refuels us emotionally listen to me carefully
he'll meet you anywhere you willing to meet him a third thing is that solitude equips us to face
the tough days all of us are going to have them all of us are going to have trials all of us are
going to have heart aches and burdens and things we have to deal with and solitude what it does it
equips us to face them confidently and assuredly without getting all nervous and upset and frantic
and thinking God oh what's going to happen it'll make a difference in your health make a difference
in your relationships to other people you're going to have a sense of peace and joy and confidence
in your heart that no matter what comes your way when you get alone with him he steals your heart
quietens your spirit and makes you an overcomer no matter what you're facing in life
there isn't anything else that can give me all of that but time alone with him
and I would simply ask you this
Do you want God's best this is the avenue do you want life's best this is avenue
do you want peace in the midst of storms and quietness and joy when turmoil is all around you
this is this is the answer so every day we should start and kind of look over the day and say Lord
God I'm going to be here today and here today and here today and I pray for your strength to be the
person of God I should be help me to bring the influence of Jesus into this situation
or I'm headed to the doctor today Lord I don't know what the news is going to be but I know
you're sufficient and I pray for strength you pray proactively don't pray after it happens pray
before it happens amen really it's important every morning you should start the day off in peace
not stressed hurried rushing around look at the sunrise
listen to the birds singing breathe in God's goodness thank him for his blessings in your life
Hebrews talks about entering into the rest of God that means you have a problem but you're
not losing sleep over it you know God is still in control this is one of the main ways we show God
we're trusting him by staying in peace not up when your circumstances are up down when they're down
you're stable you're consistent you're in the rest of God Jesus put it this way don't worry about
tomorrow for tomorrow will have enough worries of its own God has given you grace for today
you don't have grace for tomorrow don't try to figure out the next five years play out
all the what-ifs the what-ifs will depress you the truth is if a what-if does come to pass
God will give you the grace to handle it what if the report's not good what if my loved one
doesn't make it what if I do get laid off Joel then the peace that passes understanding will be
right there waiting for you God promises he will arm you with strength for every battle
we may not know what the future holds but we do know who holds the future now don't miss today
worried about tomorrow today is a gift we can never get this day back
and sure we should plan we should use common sense but at some point you have to turn it over to God
and say God you know what's best for me you said you'd give me grace for every season
just like you clothed the lily of the fields just like you feed the birds of the air I know
you will take care of me it's very freeing when you learn to turn things over to God
Where do your thoughts live where are you living I'll tell you there's only three possibilities
you're either living in the past you're living in the future or you're living in the present
Jesus said therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own thing
sufficient for the day is its own trouble think about it the past exists only as a mere memory
the future exists only in the imagination only the present exists in true reality
so why do we ruin the only moment of existence we have by pulling trouble from non-existent places
like the past and the future here's what happens when you borrow trouble from the future
now you've got double trouble if you live in the past and you live in the future you're
allowing two thieves to rob your life but if you live in the present the bible says
that God is sufficient for every day there's a wonderful verse in Deuteronomy 33:25 here's what
it says as your days so shall your strength be I love that verse that means Lord I don't know
what's going to happen on Wednesday or Thursday I got this and that and all that but all I know is
this for this day I got the strength you want me to have as my days so shall my strength be
I live on that I mean I I've got so much stuff going on in my life right now if I wanted to
sit back and worry I could be a professional worrier but I chose not to do that here's what
I've learned I don't know how God's going to deal with tomorrow but I know he's sufficient for today
and I'm going to rest in the promise that he has always kept he's never ever out-promised himself