"Can fear about tomorrow steal my joy?"

Today's Precious Prodigal Post is at = http://bit.ly/1tW418e "Can fear about tomorrow steal my joy?" #justfortoday #keepwalking Like what you see? Please "Like" & "Share" this post on Facebook.

Lamentations 3:23 "[God’s mercies] are new every morning…”

Walking a wilderness path day after day can drain us physically, emotionally and spiritually. If we’ve been doing it for a while, the future can look bleak, and nothing in my prodigal’s past has encouraged me about what might happen tomorrow.

The questions that keep me awake at night are never about what might happen if my prodigal gets into recovery, gets a good job or begins trying to fix the damage he’s done to our relationship. Questions like, “What might happen if he…?” and “What will I do if she…?” plague me all the time. And why in the world would I imagine something small when I’m perfectly capable of imagining something catastrophic?

We had custody of two of our grandkids for three years, and the little guy had leukemia. Trying to care for that sick little five-year-old who sometimes cried for his Mom wasn’t easy. His sister was only a few years older, and her trauma was at least equal to his. The only thing that was worse was when a judge decided to transition them back home even though the parents hadn’t been to treatment.

My friend Linda walked me through that process, one baby step at a time. When I was frantic with fear, she would gently ask me what my reality was at that moment. Then she would remind me I only needed to do this one day at a time and that God would be faithful to give me the strength I needed the same way…one day at a time.

While that’s true, I recently learned another truth while I was recovering from major surgery, and they told this fiercely independent person that she would need home health care during recovery. I was sure I wouldn’t need that help, but I did. And although the pain was easily managed, I was astounded at how weak I was.

I remember asking my doctor how to get my strength back. He told me I would build my strength by doing as much as I could do each day. Walking through each day, working through the pain, and trying to do my best would make me a little stronger for the next day and the next, and the next.

What was true about my physical strength is also true about our spiritual strength. We don’t need to be strong for tomorrow…only for today. As we face each day, asking God to give us strength for just that day, we need to keep on walking in spite of the pain and keep on doing the best we can. And in doing those things, we’ll be building the spiritual “muscles” we need to walk again tomorrow.

I know your journey is a tough one. But I also know that facing each day with courage, trusting that God will give you the strength you need is the only way of having victory…one day at a time. And if we aren’t willing to try, we can only blame ourselves if the journey steals our joy.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, reminded ourselves we only need to do this one day at a time?