Today

Today is June 2, 2016. I guess there really isn’t anything special about today. I’m in south Louisiana so it’s going to be hot. It’s a Thursday which is one of my favorite days of the week because the whole weekend stretches out before me. I already know I haven’t done everything I had hoped to do this week.  It looks like a rainy weekend so I should probably get my yard work done. It’s a pretty ordinary day.

It’s also incredibly special. It’s a gift from God. I need to make sure I don’t waste it regretting yesterdays or worrying about tomorrows. It will be full of opportunities that I can refuse to see, let slip by or take full advantage of. In just a few hours it will be gone. There will be nothing I can do to get it back. God preceded it with a few hours of quiet darkness so I could rest up for it, spend some quiet time with HIm,  and face it fresh. I will get the same break in a few hours when dark will settle in again and I can reflect on opportunities missed, ignored or taken. I will have the opportunity to thank God for it and all the special people who filled it.

God’s planned this day for all eternity. He knew I would be in it. He knew the mistakes and the grace that got me here. He provided or allowed all the trials and blessings that got me to this place. He strategically placed folks in the path that would ensure that by this day I would have heard his good news and had a chance  to respond. He will have plotted out all the alternatives to the best plan He had for me that I didn’t happen because I made wrong turns and missed chances. He has adjusted the paths of others to give me second chances, blessings and character building trials. He has done this nearly 25,000 times since my very first day. I don’t know how many more times He will do that, give me a new day, but He knows.

How can I sometimes think that He isn’t there or that He doesn’t care. We love to say He has a plan for us. What we don’t recognize is how complex, flexible, forgiving, and loving that plan is. Today is really just another day and that is truly miraculous and deserving of my very best response.