I’ll Take My Future
“for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
“Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black.” (Matthew 5:36)
“Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:31-34)
In a recent article that I read about Tina Turner, it said at their divorce she gave her ex-husband everything she had. She said, “I’ll take my future.”
Another recent poem I read was titled “Every Woman Should Know.” There were several lines of what the author thought every woman should know. Some of the items I agreed with and some were a “well, maybe.” Here are a couple of thoughts to ponder on.
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
“That she can’t change the length of her calves,
The width of her hips,
or the nature of her parents..
That her childhood may not have been perfect…
But it’s over…”
And there you have it. There are some things every man should know as well, but I haven’t seen anyone expound on that field of expertise. And there are some things that every adult should know.
None of us can change our physical attributes by agonizing over them, or as the Bible calls it, ‘being anxious’ over them.
What are we anxious over? Today, outside my door the sun is beautiful, the birds are singing, and life looks pleasant. In my world, most things are going on as normal. I am blessed and I know and feel it.
I do wish that in the whole world, life was as beautiful. I wish there were no wars, nor rumors of wars. I wish there were no earthquakes, volcanoes, or crime… or the list of sins and sorrows is endless.
I wonder what most people would say the biggest sin is. There are many different sins in the world, however, like all diseases there is a root cause. And also like diseases in order to be cured the root cause needs to be addressed.
I don’t know the percentage, but I believe it is a large percentage of the sin problem is ingratitude—being ungrateful.
Perspective—where do you see the world? As the scriptures and the poem says there are some things you can’t change and to worry over them is fruitless.
If we carry the baggage of the good and evil people have done to us, or we perceive they have done to us, going forward is slow if it takes place at all. There is a time to realize it’s over.
I was twenty-eight when I found out my mother was dying. I had a cousin who had a long-standing feud with my mother. She called me to remind me how awful my mom had been and raged against her.
In defense of the situation, my mother hadn’t been a stellar mom. On the other hand, we all stand at a judgment seat of sorts. I was caught at a bad time, and I had to sort through a lot of life quickly and at a young age.
I set up a timeline of sorts or two columns. I was a Christian, married with five children. I believed in God and the scriptures, and we were using them as our guide—and still, we struggled to know our way.
My mother could attract men, she had four marriages by the time I was five. But there was a bitterness that would show up and destroy those relationships… indeed it destroyed all of her relationships as time went on.
It was sufficient for me to realize my mother at one stage in life was a young woman (as I was at that time) whose world had been turned upside down with the advent of World War Two. She had no Biblical basis for her life or her morality and was forced to fall back on secular teachings, and that was her world.
If my husband and I were floundering, searching for the path and we had scriptures, how could I expect my mother to be any different? This isn’t a tell-all here, just how I came to find a semblance of peace in my relationship.
Bitterness and heart wound—those two things together are difficult to overcome. Social media today can be a source of either encouragement or discouragement. It is important to take good advice for encouragement.
I’ve heard more often than I care to remember the idea that “My parents weren’t perfect. They did thus and so, and I had a miserable childhood.” These adults, grown-up children supposedly, have saved up a litany of things their parents should have done for them.
I’m sure there are people who have had a perfect childhood, but I don’t know any of them.
There is an interesting tool in a writer’s box, a new theory that all people at a young age have adopted a lie. The child must be five years old or younger and they for some reason have taken to their heart a lie about themselves as truth and they cannot be taught out of the lie.
I don’t believe you can prove or disprove this theory. People do believe lies, and they often carry those lies with them and won’t let go of the lies. Yet, I’ve seen people who have held long-standing erroneous beliefs and still correct their ways.
No matter how it gets there, at some point, the bad garbage needs to be jettisoned. It needs to be let go. Like blinders lifted from the eyes, in order to allow the beautiful sunlight of goodness, joy, and peace into the heart and life. No one is to blame for a person’s bad attitude except for the person.
That is how some people pick up their life even after a cataclysmic event and go on. Going back and reliving it won’t make it better.
Looking for someone to blame—that’s not a new game. For research purposes, I look for pieces written for and about Appalachian living. One man has done several videos in which he interviews old-timer residents. I began watching some of them, but… his focus appears to be one of picking apart and looking for the repugnant, or unpleasant subjects.
“We worked hard all day, hardly had anything to eat, life was miserable,” and so forth. There are other stories from people who grew up in the backwoods and told a different tale.
They admit they didn’t have running water, couldn’t run to the store for food, their food was cooked on a wood stove, and they had to work for what they had, but… They also ran barefoot in the grass, played in the creek, were thankful for their family, and enjoyed what they did have.
“And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:12-13)
It has been summed up in the story of an alcoholic and his two sons. One son became an alcoholic and the other son became a successful businessman who never touched alcohol. When the sons were asked why, the first one replied, because of my father. The second one also replied, because of my father.
In both of the cases, it was personal choices that didn’t have much to do with the father, but it had a world to do with the individual.
Our modern-day world has as many flaws as it has had for centuries… we just know it faster. And communication has become worldwide. The populace, in general, can become knowledgeable in many ways for good or evil and very quickly.
The scriptures speak against believing a lie, but how do we know? Study the scriptures for Bible answers. Study life and make careful decisions according to scriptures.
Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.
(2 Timothy 2:15)
“Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:18-19)
Every Christian should know to study the scriptures to learn and know what is true and right. Every Christian should pray as they study.
A number of religious people talk about the “antichrist” that is supposed to come, but if they were reading their Bibles they would know there have been many antichrists since the beginning of the Church. They would also know these are the last days, that tomorrow may never come. And they would also know…
“At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, And in a day of salvation did I succor thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation): giving no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our ministration be not blamed;” (2 Corinthians 6:2-3)
