I was promised snow. There was no snow.
It’s not the first time the weatherman has been wrong but rarely ever have the stakes been so high. Not since…
*checks notes*
…last year have I been promised snow. That’s an eternity when it’s the only chance a person has to eat snow ice-cream. They don’t just sell that stuff in cartons. What’s more, we were all so certain of snow that we delayed our regularly scheduled worship service to the middle of the day. Happy as I was to see so many at 3pm, the crowd was thinner than usual and that put a damper on things.
Should it have? Should I have been so wrapped up in what I assumed was coming that I was disappointed when it didn’t happen? Who am I to make assumptions and then get angry when they don’t pan out? Who am I to fret over that which I cannot control?
There’s a hymn we sometimes sing that is often used to reassure and comfort, but in this case, thinking about it yesterday brought a mild rebuke to my mind…
I don’t know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.
The intended purpose behind the song, I think, is just to remind me that I don’t know what the future holds, but I have faith that God is in control. In that case, it doesn’t matter what the future holds because I know God will be there to help me through it, whatever it be.
It’s one thing to sing that song when the sky is blue and the sun is shining and you don’t have a care in the world, but it’s quite different to sing that when you were promised snow, you counted on snow, you expected snow, and instead you woke up…and the sky was blue and the sun was shining!
When you read the words to that song while you’re fretting over a plan that didn’t pan out, you can quickly feel as big as an ant, being humbled by the simple trust the hymn compels us to have…a trust we don’t always show when we make assumptions about a future that is very uncertain. I need to learn to let go and not make so many “set in stone” plans. That’s a fault of mine. I have my schedule mapped out for the entire year, everything I’m doing, everyday Monday-Friday. I have to revise it frequently throughout the year, and usually I do so with great consternation. Why? Because I treat my plans as though they are guaranteed, as though I have tomorrow in my hands. If I really did, I wouldn’t have to revise my schedule so much!
The only guarantee I have about tomorrow is that God is already there and waiting for me to join Him, to face whatever it brings together.
Tomorrow may bring great happiness. If it does I will praise God for it. Tomorrow may bring great sorrow. If it does I will lean on God to get through it. Either way, I need to remember that there are…
Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.
Or, as my Master said…
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew 6:34, NKJV)
That’s not always easily done, Master, but I’ll keep trying.
~ Matthew