I recently encountered two conflicting quotes in the same week – one in a book and one on a sign. Here they are: “The hard thing about life is the dailyness of it” and “The good thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
As I pondered these different takes on the same subject, I found them both to be true. The reality that a new day unfolds every 24 hours can indeed be both “hard” and “good” at the same time.
Let’s start with the hard …
It seems we are often in a hurry to get on to the “next thing” in life and the dailyness is, as the quote says, just hard. When we’re kids, we want to be teenagers; then we can’t wait to go off to college or get a real job; then we’re ready to begin “real life” – perhaps marriage or a career; and when we’re middle-aged and weary of the grind, we long for the leisure of retirement.
We’re usually convinced that the magical land of contentment lies just over the next hill, so the journey seems slow, indeed. The “dailyness” can make us crazy.
Have you ever stopped to think how many times you’ve brushed your teeth or washed your hair or clipped your toenails in your lifetime? Or how many loads of laundry you’ve washed or how many times you’ve filled up your car with gas? It can make you crazy if you think about it. The dailyness of life. All the stuff we have to do to keep going day … after day … after day. Yes, it can be hard.
But then there is that second truth: “The good thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
I’m no amateur when it comes to wielding a fork, but I don’t think I could eat an entire cake at one sitting. But give me a slice a day and I can conquer that cake without any trouble at all! Life is like that, too. It’s nice to know we only have to swallow one bite at a time.
The world’s definition of REAL life is fame, fortune and success – and we’re told we better have it all conquered before we reach the age of 50. And how will I know when I’m successful, according to the world? Lots of expensive stuff, a fat investment portfolio, an article about me in Time magazine, a string of degrees behind my name, and maybe even an appearance on Oprah.
It’s easy to look at those standards and get very, very discouraged. Looking through the world’s lens, I don’t see success in my future at all. It’s a bite too big to swallow.
But God’s definition of success is so different. When asked by a religious man what the most important things in life are, Jesus boiled hundreds and hundreds of Jewish laws into two simple instructions: Love God with everything you have and are, and love others. Do these two things and you’ll be successful, He was saying.
My responsibility before God is to faithfully walk with Him, loving Him and others, for ONE day – this ONE day He has given me. If I string together seven of these faithful days, I will have lived the most successful week possible … 52 of these weeks make one great year … and a lifetime of these years are the very definition of a life lived well. The future does indeed come one day at a time.
There’s another reason I am thankful that each day is a new day: God says His mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). Do you know why He gives me a new batch of mercies every day? Because I NEED them! I love knowing that as His child, each day my slate is wiped clean and I have the opportunity to write something new and wonderful on it. I don’t have to tote the shame of yesterday’s mistakes around with me – some consequences, perhaps, but not the guilt or shame.
The dailyness of life is surely hard and surely good. Being temporarily stranded in time always seems a bit uncomfortable because deep down, we know we were made for eternity; and yet, it’s good to know our time here is cut up into manageable bites we call days, and that God promises grace, mercy and strength for each bite.
As you deal with and rejoice in the dailyness of life, know this: God has a plan for your life and it is good. Love Him, trust Him, cooperate with Him, and watch Him unfold that plan one … day … at … a … time.