Counselor's Corner: Take Life as it Comes, One Step at a Time

Take it one day a time, one moment at a time. Don’t project too far ahead, and begin guessing what may or could happen in the future. Take life as it comes-one step at a time.

Reflect and ponder: What in your life causes you to jump ahead and start figuring out how possibly things may turn out? Difficulty trusting God, fear that the outcome won’t be what you had hoped for, or perhaps you want to be in control of a situation because it makes you feel more secure. What if God wants you to let go of all your perceived outcomes to situations and to surrender all the unknowns to Him? How would your life be different?

Counselor’s advice: Thinking too far ahead can cause you to be anxious, worried, and even fearful. We were never meant to use up tomorrow’s grace on today-God’s grace is sufficient for the day, not stored up. We feel more in control if we can predict the outcomes of our lives, but the reality is we are not supposed to know every detail of how things will turn out for ourselves. God wants us to fully trust Him with all the unknowns in life, and then we can enter into His rest, care and peace. We can only trust Jesus when we truly understand that He is for us, and He eventually does work out all things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

►FACT: 85% of what we worry about never happens and 15% of what does happen, we can handle better than we thought we could. So, why worry about tomorrow? How do we know what may happen.

MEDITATE ON THESE SCRIPTURES:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, 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 6:34, MSG

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

►For additional help in overcoming worry and learning to discipline your mind, check out my latest book, “Disciplining your mind, 30 days to a better you.”