Grace in Galatians (Part 187) – Don’t Lose Your Today Waiting For Your Tomorrow

https://youtu.be/ZnSLKCQldV0?si=edk9XYdvZr0_ke8B

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Galatians 6:10 NIV“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Supporting scriptures:

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ERV“There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.”

Psalm 118:24 TPT“This is the very day of the Lord that brings gladness and joy, filling our hearts with glee.”

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 NLT“Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life–this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 AMPC“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the place of the dead), where you are going.”

Colossians 3:23 TPT“Throw yourselves into your work as if you were doing it for the Lord himself, and not merely for others.”

Zechariah 4:10 TPT“Even though the start of this work seems insignificant, the Lord is overjoyed to see the work begin and to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

Matthew 6:34 TPT“Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

Setting the Stage:

This is our last day on Galatians 6:10. On Monday, we move to verse 11. We have spent the entire week on this one verse. I thought I was going to move on from this verse today, but then a friend of mine asked me a question yesterday. I had spent three weeks teaching us how not to grow weary in the wait. I gave a “20 Ways To Overcome Weariness” series. I unpacked Joseph and David. And after all of that, my friend asked me and said, “Rick, this has all been good. But what do I actually DO? You told me how not to grow weary. You told me how to wait well. But what do I actually DO while I wait?” That is one of the best questions I have been asked in a long time. Because the truth is, the longer the wait, the louder that question gets in your chest. You sit in a season you did not pick, you long for a future that has not arrived, and at some point your soul cries out, “Father, what do I DO with right now?” Today’s message is the answer.

Here is the answer. While you wait on God for the BIG thing He promised you, focus on what God has you doing TODAY. Don’t lose your today waiting for your tomorrow. Don’t sacrifice the now on the altar of the next. I call this “balancing your now with your next.” Let’s go!

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Ask God What THIS Season Is For.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ERV says, “”There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.” Read that again. God is not a random God. He is not just spinning a wheel and dropping you in whatever season pops up. The season you are in right now has a purpose. The season I am in right now has a purpose. And here is the part that will set you free today. The purpose of THIS season is not always the same as the purpose of your NEXT season. Ask God a question. “Father, what is THIS season FOR?” Just asking that question opens the door to the assignments that are right in front of you.

How this applies to you:

— Some of you are running so hard toward what God said is COMING that you have stopped paying attention to what God already said is HERE. Slow down. Look up. Ask God what this current season is for.

— I want you to imagine David in the field with the sheep, right after Samuel poured the oil over his head. David could have walked back to his father’s house and said, “I am not shepherding sheep anymore. I am the king. Get somebody else to handle these animals.” But he did not. He went back to the sheep. Why? Because his next season was the throne, but his current season was the field. And the field had a purpose. The field was where God built the heart of a king.

— Romans 8:28 says God works ALL things together for the good of those who love Him. ALL things includes the season you are in right now. Even the parts that do not feel productive. Even the parts that feel like a holding pattern. God is not wasting one minute of this. He is using it.

— If you pray and ask God, “Father, what is THIS season for?” He will say things like, “I’m building character. I’m growing your faith. I’m developing your skills. I’m teaching you to lead. Don’t despise this room.” Years later, when the door opens for the BIG THING you were waiting for, you will be ready, because you did not waste your season of preparation.

— Every season has its own assignment. The wilderness has an assignment. The promotion has an assignment. The wait has an assignment. The breakthrough has an assignment. Stop trying to do the breakthrough assignment in a wilderness season. The wilderness has its own work. Do that work first.

— In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, discover that the season you are currently IN is not a delay. It is a deposit. God is putting something in you in this season that you will need in the next one.

— Ask God the question. Then listen. He will tell you exactly what He wants you to do RIGHT NOW, while keeping your heart open to the NEXT!

2. Do Not Sacrifice Your Today On The Altar Of Your Tomorrow.

Psalm 118:24 TPT says, “This is the very day of the Lord that brings gladness and joy, filling our hearts with glee.” TODAY is the day of the Lord. Not next month. Not next year. Not when the promotion comes. Not when the spouse arrives. Not when the bank account hits a certain number. TODAY. The mistake too many believers make is treating today like a holding cell for tomorrow. They put their life on pause until the next thing manifests. “I will start serving when I get the breakthrough.” “I will be generous when I have more.” “I will be content when I am married.” “I will be excited when the door opens.” All you are doing with that mindset is missing out on enjoying your today for a tomorrow that may take longer than you think to arrive. The discipline is to be fully present, fully alive, fully grateful, and fully obedient TODAY.

How this applies to you:

— Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. Stop treating it like a sentence to serve until tomorrow shows up.

— Some of you are physically here but mentally somewhere in the future. You are CHECKED OUT. You are walking through your day with one foot in the present and one foot in your imagination. That is no way to live. Get both feet in the room you are actually standing in.

— Matthew 6:34 TPT says, “Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” Tomorrow’s grace shows up tomorrow. You cannot pull tomorrow’s grace into today. So all the worrying about tomorrow does is rob today of its joy and peace.

— I want you to picture a parent at their kid’s birthday party, but their head is back at the office checking emails. The kid blows out the candles, and the parent missed it because they were mentally somewhere else. Some of you are doing that with your whole life. The candles are getting blown out, and you are looking right past them.

— Heaven is not impressed by the size of what you are believing for. Heaven is impressed by the faithfulness of what you are doing in the meantime. Let me say this way, and I really want you to meditate on this statement: God watches the meantime more than He watches the manifestation.

— I have learned in three decades of ministry that the people who are happiest in the wait are not the ones who finally got what they were waiting for. They are the ones who learned to enjoy God in the wait itself. The wait became sacred to them. They stopped resenting the season and started loving the Savior who put them there.

— If you spend your life waiting on the next thing without enjoying the thing that you’re in, you will wind up wasting the majority of your life. Do not waste your wait! Enjoy it! Focus on whatever God has you doing NOW!

— In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, discover that today is not a competitor with tomorrow. Today is the foundation tomorrow gets built on. Steward today, and tomorrow takes care of itself.

3. Focus On What God Has Already Placed In Your Hand.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 AMPC says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Read that again. Whatever your HAND finds to do. Not whatever your imagination is dreaming about. Not whatever your prayer list says you want. Whatever your hand can actually touch right now. That is the test of a faithful believer. Look at what is in your hand today. Maybe it is a job that is below your calling. Do it with excellence. Maybe it is a marriage that needs more attention than you have been giving it. Pour into it. Maybe it is a kid who needs you. Show up for them. Maybe it is a small group of three people God has assigned you to disciple. Disciple the three. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Because faithfulness in the small thing is the prerequisite for promotion to the big thing. Jesus said it in Matthew 25, “You have been faithful with a few things, I will set you over many things.” The promotion follows the faithfulness. Always.

How this applies to you:

— Look at your hand today. What is God already trusting you with? Whatever that is, that is your assignment. Pour into it like it’s the only assignment you will ever get.

— Colossians 3:23 TPT says, “Throw yourselves into your work as if you were doing it for the Lord himself, and not merely for others.” That is the standard. You are not working for the boss. You are not just serving your spouse. You are not just raising your children. You are doing all of it FOR THE LORD. And when the Lord is the audience, the assignment changes its significance.

— Some of you have been waiting on a “big” assignment so long that you have started to despise the small ones. Don’t. Zechariah 4:10 TPT says, “Even though the start of this work seems insignificant, the Lord is overjoyed to see the work begin.” Heaven is celebrating what your eyes are dismissing. The small thing in your hand is a big thing in God’s eyes.

— David had a harp. Joseph had a household. Moses had a staff. Nehemiah had a cupbearer’s role. Every one of them was promoted from what was already in their hand to what God had been promising. None of them got there by despising the starting place.

— I had a season earlier in my life where I was preaching on Sundays, but during the week I was doing things I considered far below my calling. I used to grumble about it. Then the Holy Spirit corrected me. He said, “Rick, do everything I have given you to do AS UNTO ME, and watch what I do for you.” From that day on, I treated every “lesser” assignment like a sacred one. And God promoted me through doors I never could have kicked open myself.

— Doing good NOW, with what is already in your hand, is what positions you for the big assignment later. You are not auditioning for a future role by neglecting your current one. God is paying attention to you now as He determines when you are ready for your next!

— In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, discover that what is in your hand right now is not your demotion. It is your training ground. Make the most of it, and please do everything you can to enjoy it. 

— I’ve already shared with you that years ago I made the mistake of losing the joy of my today because of the expectations that I have for my tomorrow. God delivered me from that, and I pray that he would deliver you as well. Like the Apostle Paul said, we must learn to be content. 

4. Balance Your NOW With Your NEXT.

This is the master skill. Living fully present in today while still believing fully for tomorrow. Both hands. Not one or the other. Some believers are so focused on the next that they ignore the now, and they end up bitter, frustrated, and unfaithful in the season they are in. Other believers get so comfortable in the now that they lose their hunger for the next, and they end up settling for less than what God promised them. The mature believer learns to hold both. They love the season they are in, AND they keep believing for the season that is coming. They steward today, AND they expect tomorrow. They serve where they are, AND they prepare for where they are going. I call this “balancing your now with your next.” 

Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Testament, called it something else. He called it “accepting your lot in life.” Listen to what he wrote near the end of his life. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 NLT says, “It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life–this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.” Did you catch the last line? God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past. 

How this applies to you:

— You are not asked to choose between being present and being expectant. You can be both. Faith does not require you to mentally check out of today.

— I want you to picture a runner in a relay race. There is a moment when she is running her leg of the race, and her teammate is running ahead of her, waiting to take the baton. The runner is not finished yet. She still has her lap to run. But she is also already looking ahead to the handoff. That is what balancing your now with your next looks like. You run YOUR leg with everything in you, while you keep your eye on what is coming.

— Some of you have one hand on the now and zero hands on the next. You stopped believing for tomorrow because today has been long. Pick the next back up. God has not changed His mind about your future.

— And some of you have both hands on the next and have completely abandoned the now. You are checked out. You are barely showing up. You are already living in the manifestation in your imagination, while the present is dying of neglect. Get one hand back on today. Today still matters.

— In Luke 19, Jesus told the parable of the ten minas. The faithful servants invested what they were given while they were waiting on the master to return. Heaven’s reward system honors people who steward what they have while they wait for what is coming. Be a person heaven can trust with both!

— Solomon’s phrase “accept your lot in life” has been misunderstood for years. It does not mean settling. It does not mean lowering your faith. It means receiving the season you are in as a gift from God, with full faith that He has more for you, but full peace about where He has you right now. Acceptance is not surrender. Acceptance is partnership.

— Read Solomon’s words again. “God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.” When you accept your lot AND enjoy what God has placed in your hand, you become so busy LIVING that you stop brooding over what was, and you stop obsessing over what is coming. The cure for brooding is busy obedience.

— I have been waiting on God for over 13 years for something specific. And I will tell you what I have learned. The years I balanced my now with my next have been the most peaceful years of my life. The years I tried to live in the next while ignoring the now were the years I was the most miserable. The peace is in the balance.

— In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, discover that the secret to a peaceful wait is a present life lived on purpose. You can be deeply rooted in today AND deeply hopeful for tomorrow. They are not competing. They are partnering.

That’s enough for today. We have spent the week walking through Galatians 6:10 together. We have looked at the verse from every angle I had in me. Joseph did good in every room. David did good in every cave. We defined what good actually means. And today, we land the plane on the most practical question of all. What do you DO while you wait? You focus on what God has you doing today. You ask Him what THIS season is for. You refuse to lose your today waiting for your tomorrow. You pour into what is already in your hand. And you balance your NOW with your NEXT. Do this, and the wait will become some of the most fruitful seasons of your entire life. On Monday, we move to Galatians 6:11. But for today, focus on TODAY!

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that every season of my life has a purpose, and You have a specific assignment for the season I am in right now!

I refuse to lose my today waiting for my tomorrow, and I refuse to sacrifice my now on the altar of my next!

I ask You today, “What is THIS season for?” and I trust You to answer me clearly so I can steward this moment well!

I throw myself into the work that is already in my hand, and I do it with all my might, as unto You and not unto people!

I refuse to despise the day of small beginnings, because heaven is overjoyed to see the work I am doing right now!

I balance my NOW with my NEXT, holding faithfulness in today and expectancy for tomorrow at the same time!

I accept my lot in life as a gift from You, and I am so busy enjoying the life You have given me that I take no time to brood over the past!

The “now” is the trellis my “next” grows on, and I am building a strong now that my future can lean on!

Heaven is keeping receipts on what I do in the wait, and I am being faithful with what is in my hand today!

I am living in THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, I am Living THE GRACE LIFE, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!