No Better Time

What are the characteristics of a “meaningful” life?

Help us recognize the small number of our days, Lord, so we may choose wisely. — Psalm 90:12 The Discussion Bible

Time is one of the few resources we can never recover. Money can be earned again. Possessions can be replaced. Opportunities sometimes return in another form. But after a moment has passed, it belongs to history.

That realization can create urgency, but it can also create unnecessary guilt. We look backward and think about what we should have finished, what we might have accomplished, or how much farther along we could have been. Yet regretting yesterday can become another way of wasting today. The better question is not, What should I have done? but, Lord, what would you have me do now?

Stop Spending Today Regretting Yesterday

We can lose twice from the same mistake. First, we lose whatever opportunity was missed. Then we lose additional time criticizing ourselves for having missed it.

Imagine someone who realizes he took the wrong highway exit. He could pull over and spend thirty minutes complaining about the mistake, or he could immediately find the best route forward. Regret doesn’t put him back on the highway. Correction does.

The same is true spiritually. Paul understood the importance of refusing to live in the past.

Friends, I haven’t figured everything out yet, but I know one thing: the past needs to be forgotten so I can focus on doing better in the future. I focus entirely on the heavenly reward that comes in following Jesus Christ. — Philippians 3:13–14

Paul certainly remembered his past. He had persecuted Christians and made decisions he deeply regretted. “Forgetting” didn’t mean erasing his memory. It meant refusing to allow yesterday to control today’s obedience.

God may teach us through yesterday, but he calls us to live today. Foolishness is beating ourselves down over what we haven’t done, using the time and energy that could accomplish something now.

Ask the Most Important Question

When we’re dissatisfied with our productivity, we naturally ask, How can I get more done? The better question might be: What does God want done? We can accomplish twenty things and still neglect the one thing that matters most.

Jesus illustrated this when he visited his good friends in Bethany. Martha was busy serving. Her work wasn’t sinful or meaningless. But Mary recognized that, at that moment, sitting at Jesus’ feet was more important (Luke 10:42).

Our problem isn’t a shortage of good things to do. It’s having too many good things competing for limited time. A desk may contain ten worthwhile projects. An inbox may contain twenty legitimate needs. Friends, family, ministry, work, writing, household responsibilities, and personal goals can all deserve attention. But all those good things don’t deserve the top spots on our priority list.

We need direction.

There Are 360 Degrees, but Only One Best Direction

Imagine standing in the center of a circle. You could walk in any of 360 degrees. Many directions might lead somewhere worthwhile. Only one, however, represents the direction God wants you to take at that moment.

This is one reason human wisdom alone is insufficient. We usually choose based on what we can see. God sees what lies beyond our horizon.

Trust God with your whole being, and don’t rely solely upon what you think is true. Let the Lord guide everything you do, and he will keep you on the right path. — Proverbs 3:5–6

God will keep us on the right path, but he doesn’t give us a complete map. He’s the leader. We’re the followers. So he directs our path one step at a time. We might want God to say, Here’s everything that will happen during the next five years. Crickets. So we take the next step. And then the next. And the next.

Faith isn’t having the entire route downloaded into our minds. Faith trusts our Guide, who knows our destination.

Take Jesus’ Hand and Keep Walking

Peter saw Jesus walking on water and asked permission to come to him. For a few remarkable moments, a fisherman did something no fisherman had ever done before. He walked on water. Then he noticed the storm. When his attention shifted from Jesus to the wind and waves, fear overwhelmed him and he began to sink.

That picture beautifully illustrates our daily dependence on God. We can’t control the wind. We can’t calm every wave. We can’t predict every storm. But we can keep reaching for the hand of Christ. If we reach up and take Jesus’ hand, we can walk with him wherever he wants to go—even through wind, waves, and fire.

Understanding Isn’t a Prerequisite for Obedience

Sometimes we’re like youngsters who want an explanation before we do what we’re told.

• Lord, tell me why.

• Show me where this is going.

• Explain how this will work.

• Tell me what happens after I take this step.

God could answer such questions if he wanted to. Usually, he doesn’t. Abraham was given no itinerary when he was told to leave his homeland (Genesis 12:1).

By faith, Abraham left his homeland when God called him to go to another place, which would become his inheritance from the Lord. But at the time he left, he didn’t know where he was going or how he would get there. — Hebrews 11:8

Abraham knew who was leading him even when he didn’t know where he was going. That distinction is crucial. We may not understand God’s strategy, but we can trust God’s character.

When God is working through us, understanding well isn’t a prerequisite for doing well.

Is God’s Grace Sufficient?

Many Christians would immediately answer yes, but their actions might suggest otherwise. Why do people sometimes max out their credit cards and bury themselves in debt? Evidently, their desire for more exceeds what God has provided. They aren’t content with God’s grace for today.

Even the apostle Paul struggled with this issue. He said he had to learn to trust the Lord, no matter how little or how much he had.

I have lived in poverty and prosperity. I have gone hungry and at other times have feasted. I know what it’s like, both to abound and to suffer desperate needs. In all situations, no matter how little or how much I have, I must depend on Christ for my strength and guidance. — Philippians 4:12–13

Paul struggled with what he called a “thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan.” Three times, he asked God to remove it.

But God said no. “My grace is sufficient,” he said. “In your weakness, your dependence upon me makes you strong.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9

We sometimes hear “God’s grace is sufficient” as though God were saying, “You already have enough.” But God’s sufficiency isn’t saying we can’t have more. It’s saying we need to keep trusting him and not work independent from whatever he might want to do.

Our prayer might therefore become: Lord, enlarge my capacity for you.

• More wisdom.

• More love.

• More endurance.

• More patience.

• More sensitivity to his Spirit.

• More willingness.

• More of Christ shaping our thoughts, priorities, reactions, and desires.

If God’s grace is sufficient, we should desire all the sufficiency our hearts can contain.

Productivity Isn’t the Same as Faithfulness

Our culture tends to measure people’s value by visible results.

• How much did you produce?

• How many tasks did you finish?

• How many people responded?

• How large did the ministry become?

• How many books did you write?

• How successful was the project?

Those measurements may have practical value, but they are poor measures of faithfulness. In the parable of the talents, the servants are commended because they were faithful with what had been entrusted to them (Matthew 25:21). They were responsible for using what their master gave them. The master determined what came from it.

The same is true of our work for the Lord. We are responsible for obedience, diligence, perseverance, and wise stewardship. The results belong to God. We rarely have enough information to measure the full effect of what we do.

A conversation may encourage someone years later. A book may reach a reader we will never meet. A lesson may plant a truth that takes decades to bear fruit. A seemingly unsuccessful effort may accomplish something God intended but we never see.

That doesn’t give us permission to work carelessly. Faithfulness requires our best effort. But our ultimate goal is not simply to accomplish more, attract more attention, or produce more visible results. Our goal is to faithfully accomplish whatever God has given us to do—and trust him with what comes from it.

Learn to Let Go of Good Things

One of the hardest lessons in faithfulness is recognizing that we can’t do everything good. Jesus himself didn’t heal every sick person in Israel during his earthly ministry. He didn’t preach in every town. He didn’t satisfy every request. Instead, he always followed his Father’s direction.

There will always be something else we could do.

Wisdom asks what we should do. Sometimes following God requires saying yes. Sometimes it requires saying no. Often spiritual maturity means learning the difference.

Some Work Will Never Be Finished

We enjoy completion. We like checking boxes and saying, “Done. Finished. Completed.” There is satisfaction in reaching the end of a task and knowing the work is behind us. But some of life’s greatest pursuits have no finish line.

We never finish learning. We never finish growing. We never finish loving. And we certainly never finish discovering God. Even throughout eternity, we will never exhaust the wonder of who he is. There will always be more to experience, more to understand, and more reason to worship.

This means spiritual growth isn’t a project we complete. It’s a relationship that continually deepens. We may finish reading a book of the Bible, complete a study, learn a lesson, or overcome a struggle, but we never reach the point where we can say, “I have grown enough. I know God well enough. There is nothing more for me to learn.”

The goal isn’t to arrive at a spiritual finish line. It’s to keep walking with God, knowing him more deeply, trusting him more fully, and becoming increasingly responsive to his presence and direction.

Desire, Direction, and Energy

When time is limited, three things become especially valuable.

• We need desire to do what matters.

• We need direction to know what matters.

• We need energy to act upon that knowledge.

Any one of those without the others is insufficient.

• Direction without desire leaves us knowing what to do but reluctant to do it.

• Desire without direction can send us enthusiastically in the wrong direction.

• Desire and direction without energy can leave us frustrated because our intentions exceed our strength.

That is why dependency upon God must extend beyond asking, “What should I do?” We should also pray for desire, strength, and wisdom.

Today Is What We Have

Yesterday is beyond our reach. Tomorrow hasn’t arrived. Today is where obedience happens.

[Jesus said,] “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have its own worries. Today’s problems are enough for today.” — Matthew 6:34

This doesn’t prohibit planning. Scripture repeatedly praises wisdom and preparation. It prohibits living beneath tomorrow’s burden before tomorrow arrives. We can plan for tomorrow without living there. We can learn from yesterday without living there. God meets us today. And today contains enough opportunities for faithfulness.

Do the Work in Front of You

There comes a point when reflection must become action. We can pray. Think. Plan. Evaluate. Reconsider. Study. Prepare. All these things have value. But eventually we must do the work.

When God has made today’s assignment clear, we don’t need to chase every distraction, answer every critic, entertain every possibility, or second-guess every decision. We can simply do the work. Perhaps imperfectly. Perhaps without fully understanding what God is building through it. Perhaps without knowing who will ultimately benefit.

The Best Time Is Now

While asking for tomorrow’s increase, we should not overlook today’s opportunity. Tomorrow, the Lord may give us more tomorrow. Today, he has given us today. So rather than wasting time wishing we had done more yesterday or worrying about whether we can do enough tomorrow, we can pray: Lord, show me what matters now. Give me the desire, wisdom, strength, and willingness to do it. Help me release everything you haven’t assigned to me. Hold my hand, guide my steps, and accomplish through me whatever you desire.

There is no better time than now to do what the Lord would have us do right now.

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