How to Face an Uncertain Future
by Rick Warren
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“Do not boast about [what you’re going to do] tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1 NIV). The Bible offers three timeless principles for facing an uncertain future:
1. Let God set your goals. It’s foolish to make any plans without first consulting God. He’s the only one who does know the future, and he’s eager to guide you through it. The Bible says “We may make our plans, but God has the last word” (Proverbs 16:1 GNT). In other words, planning without praying is presumption. Start by praying, “God, what do you want me to do?”
2. Live one day at a time. While you can plan for tomorrow, you can’t live tomorrow until it arrives. Most people spend so much time regretting the past and worrying about the future, they have no time for today! Commit to making the most of each moment of each day. Jesus said, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34 LB).
3. Don’t procrastinate. Procrastinating is a subtle trap. It wastes today by postponing things until tomorrow. You promise yourself that you’ll do it “one of these days,” but then “one of these days” turns into “none of these days.” The Bible says, “Do not boast about [what you’re going to do] tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1 NIV). What have you planned to do that you haven’t done yet? When do you intend to start working on it?
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Questions: Do you procrastinate? How can you begin to make your day more productive? How do you go about making plans for the future?
About this Author: Rick Warren
8 Responses to “How to Face an Uncertain Future”
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Mr. Warren, all three points made in this devotional today, I found to be good, sound, solid doctrine. thank you. your credentials speak for themselves.
my old nature knew not of faith although the only way I knew how to live was one day at a time(again only what if’-ing every day). and as far as procrastination goes, (sadly) I wore the crown. it only took me 48 years to realize that my life was in combustible state.
my life today is one of humility, gratitude and a ministry that I never thought I could ever be worthy of. God forgives me, He restores me. I do my best each and every day and yes, I still procrastinate but the difference is that I know that my restoration doesn’t come with a hurry–it comes in gentleness.
So, to answer your questions: yes, guilty as charged(procrastinate); don’t set the bar too high that it is way out of reach and therefore I don’t beat myself up if I don’t reach even the smallest of goals(in making my day more productive); I don’t make plans for the future for I don’t know what a difference a day will make that isn’t here yet! as it says in Mathew 6:34(NIV); ”therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.
Thanks Paster Warren. especially of the reminder to not stress about tomorrow, but to live each day to the fullest and to be fully present to the moments of the day.
Sister Shirley, thank you so much for praying for me! That is exactly what I needed to hear, and God knew it. I have been asking Him for wisdom daily, for a long time. I pray God will help me to do what I have to do. Thanks again! God bless.
May you and your husband have a good vacation!
Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus I lift up
my sister, Anonymous to you this day. I pray
that you will gaive her the wisdom that is needed in this matter. Give her wisdom on when to go, what to say and how to say what
she need to say to the individuals. Father you
said in”James”, if any man lack wisdom, let him
ask of the Father and he will give it to him
liberally. Now thank you for that wisdom that
you will give unto Anonymous in good measures concerning her request. Just a brief
word of encouragement to you. Life is so short
and brief it is like vapor, appears briefly than is
gone. All the time we have is this moment, so
we have to be mindful of how precious but
short life really is. Keep this in mind, when you
think about the things you been procrastinating about. Have a peaceful day in
the Lord!
hello sisters,
Thank you Pastor Warren, this was needed. Sisters, if you can lift-up a quick prayer for me, this is an area I have struggled with (some of you know this), and I have been struggling to ‘talk’ to some people that I needed to talk to. It’s easy to procrastinate. Also, I don’t know when it is truly God telling me to go, or if I am to wait. I need strengthening in this area of discerning God’s timing! May we keep praying for each other, & not let misunderstandings get in the way. God, have mercy on us!
I pray God will help you with whatever you are going through too. Let’s keep praying for each other.
God bless.
Thank you Helen for today’s devotional. I must
admitt that I sometimes tend to procrastinate on certain things. When it is time to clean out
my closet, this is a task I always put off as long as I can. I found what works for me is to
tackle whatever it is right away, not giving you
self time to even think on it. Whenever we put
our day in God charge, which mean he is the one that is leading and I am the one that ‘s
following. If I acknowledge God in all my ways
then he will direct my paths into my future. In
order to do this, then I first must trust God with all my heart. I have to be willing to trust
God with my life, with my future, for both of
these he holds in his will.I realized over the
years in my relationship with the Lord, that the
Lord is constantly trying to teach me things I
need to know and don’t know. I also realized
that I have Missed some of what he has been
trying to teach me, due to my own self. As I get older I find myself doing some down-siding
in my life. I have cut out and down on some-
things that years ago I thought was a very
necessary part of my life. I try to live a very
simple life, taking one day at a time, trusting
God with my life, my mate’s life, my kids life and my grandchildren’s life. I find myself making very few plans for the future only the
ones that deem necessary. This may be a very
small thing but to me it testify of how God wants to take part in our plans and in our life.
My husband and I are planning to take just a
short three day vacation the beginning of Nov.
My husband left it up to me to decide where to
go and he would make all the arrangements. I
couldn’t think of a place, went on the internet
and still didn’t find a place. One morning I was
getting ready to get back on the internet to do
some searching. The name Knoxville,Tn. was
put in my spirit, so I search Knoxville. I call my
husband and told him that God put Knoxville,
Tn. and he said so be it. I never been to this
place only know what I read on the internet
about it. God let me know if I would have just
came to hiim first, I could have save myself some time and effort. I am looking forward to
seeing and experiencing what God want me and my husband to see and experience in Knoxville,Tn. Everybody have a joyful filled day
in the Lord!
This came at an amazing time. I had just been questioning whether I should step out to be available for a specific need at my church. Then I opened this devotional. WOW. Thank you, LORD, for being so gracious and on time; thank you for reminding me that YOU are the one who controls everyTHING everyDAY.
Thank you Rick Warren – I needed to read this at this time in my life. I have been living my life just looking into the future and not making the most of each day that God graciously gives me. Thank you Lord for reminding me to trust in you always. Linda B