Unshackled Moments ~ March 15 ~ Beware The Ides Of March

That would be today, March 15. So let me state again in the body what I wrote as the title, and you can read it in your inner spooky voice, beware that Ides of March....and every other day too! I'm not saying freak out, get all twisted up anxious. I'm not saying we should be afraid to step out of our doors. I'm saying beware, as in be cautious and alert to the dangers of, the day. Which day? This day. No, not March 15. You're not Julius Caesar. Neither am I. This day, regardless of what the date is, the day of the present.

You can't beware of the past. It's a pointless waste of time. Yes, we can learn from our mistakes and let God give us the guidance, wisdom and power not to repeat the past, but there's no point in worrying about it. The past is over. There is no caution that can change that. There are no dangers. There may be dangers today from effects birthed out of yesterday's causes, but nothing in yesterday itself is a danger. The past is so over and done with that Jesus doesn't even mention it in His famous discourse on worry (Matthew 6:25-34).

Speaking of what Jesus said, there's no point in freaking about over the future either. We love to take the Matthew 6 passage where Jesus says to trust God and reminds us that God cares for the needs of flowers as a passage saying that if we trust God there's nothing to worry about. If we trust God, everything is going to magically turn out right. But that's not it. That's not what He said. And it isn't true either.

God cares for us, and He will meet our needs. But sometimes what we need and what we want or think we need aren't the same thing. There are people today who love God and trust Him completely who are going to die. There are people who are going to get and stay sick. Jesus didn't say trust God so nothing bad, unwanted or uncomfortable will happen. Even the the flowers mentioned to demonstrate that God cares for us get stepped on. Dogs come along...and you get the idea. Some days are like that. What Jesus actually said is trust God because you need to beware today, not tomorrow.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. That's what He said. That was the summation. That was the last sentence in the passage. Don't worry about tomorrow because today is dangerous. Today has things to be cautions about. He said the same thing when He said today is the day of salvation. If today is the day of salvation, it is also the day we need salvation, and we need to be saved when we are in danger of dying....which, just in case you missed what I am saying we are, today.

In recovery we are told that we are not permanently released from the bondage of our addiction, rather we have a 24 hour reprieve contingent upon our spiritual condition. What that is saying is that when I am spiritually fit, when I am walking with God and surrendered to His will, I can go anywhere He needs me to go and do whatever He needs me to do. I can trust Him. I go places that serve alcohol on a regular basis. There is not a single day that goes by where I could not grab a drink if I were to choose to do so. So why don't I? Drunks drink. That's what we do. Because God freed me from the obsession to do so. I can also hang out with addicts and try to help them without wanting to try and see if it feels like I remember to get high. But that's not because of me. That's the reprieve given by the grace of God.

If I take things back, if I stop walking with God and go back to living for myself on my own will an power, it is only a matter of time. One of these days my now, my present, my today will include me picking up a drink or drug and courting death. We can trust God to care for us. We can trust Him to love us. We can trust Him to take us through whatever may come and end up closer to Him and more like Jesus as long as we turn to Him and not from Him when the hard times come. But the hard times are coming. Jesus said we would suffer. Jesus had perfect faith, perfect trust, perfect behavior and sinless righteousness. There is no more deserving or doing it right than what He did. And they beat Him nearly to death, ripped His beard out and nailed Him naked to a cross.

So beware today. Don't worry about tomorrow, because you need to be paying attention to today. It has more trouble in it than we can handle. So what do we do about today? How do we handle, prepare for and respond to the dangers and troubles it has? We watch Him. We listen to His voice. We get as close as we can to the One who loves us and cares for us and will carry us through and make it work for our good. When it gets hard, run to Daddy. When it gets really hard, run to Daddy really fast. Some of our todays are going to suck. Those aren't necessarily the days really bad stuff happens. The days that suck the most are the ones we miss the danger of and think we can make it through without Jesus, the ones where we think we are OK when we are not. Where we think we're safe because of anything other than our relationship with Jesus. That's when the things we allowed around us rise up and stab us in the back. But as long as we deny self, take up our cross and follow Him, this day, we can endure anything with Him and come out closer to Him and as a demonstration of His love, power and way of life.

I’ve had many tears and sorrows,

I’ve had questions for tomorrow,

there’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong.

But in every situation,

God gave me blessed consolation,

that my trials come to only make me strong.

Through it all,

through it all,

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all,

through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

I’ve been to lots of places,

I’ve seen a lot of faces,

there’s been times I felt so all alone.

But in my lonely hours,

yes, those precious lonely hours,

Jesus lets me know that I was His own

Through it all,

through it all,

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all,

through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

I thank God for the mountains,

and I thank Him for the valleys,

I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.

For if I’d never had a problem,

I wouldn’t know God could solve them,

I’d never know what faith in God could do.

- Through It All by Andre Crouch

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