During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.
Grace One Day at a Time
God calls us to live one day at a time. We saw that in yesterday’s reflection: Put tomorrow under God’s promise of future grace, and just do today. Don’t download tomorrow’s worries into today.
Yes, we plan weeks, months, even years ahead, but we can’t handle living tomorrow today. It’s too much. Besides, we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Life is so unpredictable.
Today it’s one day later, and sure enough, we face new worries. With the province of Ontario shutting down non-essential services, we’re likely to see a substantial impact on our economy. Will we keep our jobs? Will we be able to pay our bills? How will this impact my business? What will happen to our contracts? How will our lending institutions treat us? What if I have to file for EI?
Maybe you lost your job today.
There’s so much uncertainty in our lives right now. Even if it’s just for the short term.
It takes grace – God’s grace – to live one day at a time. Like His gift of manna, He gives us His grace in one-day increments and calls us to rest in Him each new day, again and again.
God’s grace given us through Jesus Christ covers a whole lifetime – past, present, and future. But He distributes His grace in one-day portions and calls us to live in day-to-day reliance on His grace and to share that grace with others.
Each day we are weak and He is strong – no matter how much muscle, money and talent we have. Each day God is pleased to magnify His power in our weakness.
Scripture has many ‘daily’ promises of God’s ‘daily’ grace to count on:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6
Not just my whole life long, but all the days of my life, each and every day of my life, Jesus, my Shepherd, protects and keeps me with His goodness and mercy. He doesn’t skip a single day.
Blessed be the Lord who daily bears our burdens.
Psalm 68:19
Every day God stops in to carry today’s load for us. He does not visit us monthly or annually to see what problems and pains we’ve collected. He visits every day and calls us to cast our cares upon Him every day because He cares for us every day.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
We wake up to God every morning, and He gives us all the mercies we need for today’s pains and problems.
And what about promises like:
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
Psalm 121:6
As your days are, so shall your strength be.
Deuteronomy 33:25
From that verse Carolina Sandell Berg wrote her beautiful hymn:
Day by day and with each passing moment,
Carolina Sandell Berg
strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
Do you see? The eternal God is a daily God.
Living one day at a time is the right way to live because that’s the way God pours out His grace upon our lives. Whatever grace you need for today – is it patience? assurance? courage? peace? trust? repentance? wisdom? – He will give to you to magnify His power in your weakness.
So, dear friend, rest in God’s grace this morning, this afternoon, and again this evening. And tomorrow morning He’ll be there for you again.
Trust Him to strengthen you to do all the things He calls you to do, especially when those things look impossible. If He gave His Son for you, He will certainly supply every other need.
I spoke with a Christian businessman this week. His company is feeling the strain of COVID-19. Contracts are being pulled or delayed. He has a sound business plan, but God’s better plan is redirecting his.
He said to me, “God is in control of this company. We are here to serve Him. If He wants to close it down, it will be closed down. If He wants it to continue, it will continue. My job is just to treat my employees and clients fairly and faithfully each day. God gives me each day what I need.”
It really is that simple. Only faith in God can give us this kind of peace each day.