Ever stand in the gap between yesterday and tomorrow with an unsettled question pulling at your insides? What next?
As January begins to roll into February, I consider the possibilities of a year. Peering into the coming days, I find myself teetering between uncertainties and opportunities. Something inside pauses to reflect, whether or not my hands stop moving from task to task. Time stretches out before me with a question mark.
What next?
God answers the What Next questions in my heart in a recent quiet time of prayerfully reading the Psalms. His answer is not a roadmap or itinerary of specific things to come.
Instead He fills the open spaces with simple instructions for making the most of each day this year. Lessons for a life well-lived spread across the pages of my Bible, and I discover a formula for making the most of every opportunity and standing firm in every challenge. Join me for the Psalm 37 series:
How to make the most of each day.
Don’t let fears, frustrations, failures or worry wear away the possibilities this year. In these verses, the Psalmist is speaking specifically to the temptation to chaff with worry, irritation, and rising anger when the evil-doers prosper. When things are not like they should be.
- When the future looks dim because the wicked prosper and push.
- Do not fret. Fretting is a slow burn that can blaze up hot and fast.
- Resist the pull of envy, which is pure poison to the soul regardless of the cause.
Wrestling with our emotions we wonder, what’s the solution to fear, fretting, worry, and envy?
Trust in the Lord.
Doing and being are paired together in this simple instruction. Simple isn’t always easy, yet when we live life from a foundation of trusting God, it is the answer that is always right.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@GingHarrington” hidden_hashtags=”#psalm37, #Bestday”]Sometimes we trust God, but do nothing.[/tweetthis]
- Other times, we are busy doing, but faith is left behind.
- We rush ahead doing good in our own strength.
Truth be told, there is a fine balance between trusting and doing that creates faithfulness. It is a balance in the art of living by faith, this doing what is good with a heart firm in the trustworthy hands of God.
Dwell in the land.
“Bloom where you are planted,” is a familiar saying we’ve all heard countless times. Live, really live, where God has put you. Don’t put off abundant living today for some wished for thing in the future. Be fully where you are, trusting God and doing the good stuff.
How many times have we wished away today for some future condition? Life will be better when ______. We’ve all wrestled with this temptation to be discontent with today, waiting for something better tomorrow.
Dwell in the land. Your place. Your now.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@GingHarrington” hidden_hashtags=”#Psalm37, #bestday”]Live fully right where you are.[/tweetthis]
- Dwelling in the land has everything to do with living life full right where you are.
- Dwelling in this moment means we don’t look back with regret.
- We don’t strain forward with an unwillingness to invest fully in today.
Prosper and bloom where you are. Dig for the blessings buried beneath the soil of your present circumstances.
Cultivate faithfulness.
The second part of this simple instruction has the potential to reap great reward. Grow faithfulness. Nurture faith by feeding on God’s word daily. Care for it, take effort to grow in God’s word in such a way that it blossoms forth in the way that you live.
When you don’t know what to do next, grow faithfulness, sinking your roots deep into God’s Word. Faithful obedience is never the wrong answer and it fully answers the question of what next.
Which of these instructions do you most need to hear today?
So glad you're here. I help busy women—gals like you— build healthy habits for living well with biblical wisdom and practical steps to deepen your faith, increase your hope, and thrive in your purpose.
I’m loving this series!
Dwell in the land…I needed these words today. I’ve been missing the fulfillment in this place because I’m yearning to be somewhere else. This is the place God has put me and I will rejoice here!
Saw a great quote that relates to this: The grass is always greener…where you water it! Contentment is a big part of dwelling, isn’t it? The more we delight in God, I think the greater our contentment factor will rise.
Oh yes, so much yes. Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing this, I always find it so interesting when God is speaking the same things to different people and how they write about and process it. It’s beautiful to see Him at work like that. I’m dwelling on that verse this year. And others like it.
Thanks for stopping by. Yes it is fascinating to see how God is working specific verses into our lives. I have really enjoyed reading what you have written on dwelling. Blessings.