The last law of the harvest states, "We cannot do anything about last year's harvest, but we can about this year's"
There are two days in every week about which we should not worry—two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension.
One of these days is Yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its aches and pains, its faults and blunders. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.
The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds—but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn.
That leaves only one day—Today. Any man, by the grace of God, can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities—Yesterday and Tomorrow—that we break down.
It is not the experience of Today that drives men mad—it is remorse or bitterness for something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring. Let us, therefore, journey but one day at a time.
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Actually, by taking care of today we provide for tomorrow—or at least prepare for it. The call of Scripture is “Today, if you will hear his voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness.” The children of Israel miserably failed and wandered about in the wilderness for forty years because they failed to daily take care of their hearts so that they could keep their eyes on the Lord and trust in Him. The trials they faced were opportunities for growth and the glory of God, but because they failed to daily discipline their lives for godliness, they spent their lives going in circles in the wilderness (cf.
1 Tim. 4:7b).
The “War Cry” magazine reminds us of an important principle. “A loose wire give out no musical note; but fasten the ends, and the piano, the harp, or violin is born. Free steam drives no machine, but hamper and confine it with piston and turbine and you have the great world of machinery made possible. The unhampered river drives no dynamos, but dam it up and we get power sufficient to light a great city. So our lives must be disciplined if we are to be of any real service in this world.”
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What are the tests of life? They are tools in the hand of God designed to shape us into the character of Christ. Their design is not to break us, but make us by conforming us into His image. Again, while we should never want to fail, we all do and we need to learn to use our failures as stepping stones to growth and sowing a harvest for the glory of God.
We cannot control the length of our life,
but we can control its width and depth.
We cannot control the contour of our countenance,
but we can control its expression.
We cannot control the other person’s annoying habits,
but we can do something about our own.
We cannot control the distance our head is above the ground,
but we can control the height of the contents we feed into it.
God help us do something about what we can control
and leave all else in the hands of God!
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