A funny thing happened on the way to my back surgery this summer. I started to feel better. It took some effort. I had appointments with a chiropractor and an acupuncturist. I exercised. I changed my diet and lost some weight, but I started to feel better, which led the doctors to put a hold on doing back surgery, at least for now. I do not know if I will need it at some point, but for now, the doctors want to wait and see how I do without it, which is good, but also a bit unsettling for a person like me who likes to have a plan. The truth is, right now, I don’t really have a plan for this. I am living day by day, uncertain in some very important ways about what the future holds.

As I read Jesus that is exactly how we should live because the truth is that we just never know what might happen. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,” Jesus counseled his followers, “and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:33, 34; The Message).

I am trying to live my life acknowledging the uncertainty that is a part of living. Despite all my planning, I really have no idea what will happen no matter how much I pretend that I do. What I have is this promise that, no matter what happens, God will help me. God will help you to get through the hard times, somehow, someway.

–Pastor Don Steele