A few days ago, a friend asked me, “where do you see yourself in the next five years?”. The question brought my mind back to five years ago. If someone had asked me the same question, I would have had a perfectly articulated answer. I could even tell you where I saw myself in the next ten, fifteen years. At present, my life has changed so much. My priorities have shifted and where I am currently is a lot different from where I had anticipated I would be.

I used to be the person who liked things to be well planned out before execution. These days, I am learning to appreciate the unexpected pivots that life could bring our way and to be content walking with God as He leads.

“So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (‭‭Psalm‬ ‭90:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

Psalm 90:12 is one verse of Scripture that I hold very dear to my heart. Hardly a day goes by without mentioning it in my daily moments of prayer. In this prayer of Moses, he asked God to teach him to realize the brevity of life so that he might wisely utilize every available opportunity.

An analogy that gives me a better appreciation of this verse is driving at night. As you would expect, visibility is very low at night, and you must put on your headlight. The headlight of a car can only illuminate between 200 – 400 ft ahead, depending on if it is at high or low beam intensity. Despite this limitation, you can drive very long distances because you only need to see the next few hundred ft ahead of you. This is precisely how life tends to unfold before us.

It’s great to have plans – otherwise, we won’t have a destination in the first place. We would be aimlessly heading nowhere. However, we must understand that no one knows how long we’d live. We cannot see the complete staircase we have to take, but as long as we can take each step at a time, we will get to our destination.

You must live in the moment and enjoy every bit of it as if it were your last. Don’t be too swamped about the future that you fail to live in the present.

I’d end with the lyrics of a song written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson in the early 1970s, which I derive so much strength from:

Verse 1:
I’m only human; I’m just a woman.
Help me believe in what I could be and all that I am.
Show me the stairway I have to climb.
Lord, for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time.

Refrain:
One day at a time, sweet Jesus;
That’s all I’m asking of You.
Just give me the strength to do every day what I have to do.
Yesterday’s gone, sweet Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way;
One day at a time.

Verse 2:
Do You remember when You walked among men?
Well, Jesus, You know, if You’re looking below, it’s worse now than then.
Cheating and stealing, violence and crime.
So for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time.

What do you do when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges?

I pray that in such moments of uncertainty, you learn to work with God – one step at a time – as he charts a path for you.

Categories: My Devotionals

Tags: Christian, Christianity, Devotional, Driving, Faith, Gratitude, Self-Development