Gift of the present

There was once a man dying in his upstairs bedroom. Weak and frail, unable to move from his illness, he caught a whiff of an apple pie. It was a glorious smell.

He called for his wife to bring him a piece, but to no avail. Finally he decided he would rather die attempting to retrieve the pie himself than just lie there smelling it. Gathering every last ounce of strength and determination, he made his way to the kitchen.

He struggled to descend the stairs. Once he reached the bottom, he used his elbows to pull himself across the living room and into the kitchen. Using every bit of his strength, he strained to retrieve a fork from the drawer. When at last he pierced the pie with the fork and inched the steaming hot apple pie to his mouth his wife burst into the kitchen yelling, "Put that down, I made that for a funeral."

Often the unknown events of tomorrow become the driving motivation for today. Becoming overwhelmingly concerned about what might happen tomorrow, our anxiety causes us to miss the blessing of the day.

The teacher of Ecclesiastes noticed a particular phenomenon. The pain, grief and worry of work can yield sleepless nights. Built-up anxiety from the things that didn't get done, all that is yet to do and what might happen in the field of commerce can keep one awake at night. The teacher calls this vanity.

The National Sleep Foundation has reported that the percentage of people sleeping less than six hours a night has risen from 13 to 20 percent since 2001. The foundation said the current economic crisis has contributed to even more people forgoing sleep. Casual observations of the news leaves one to wonder how much the economy has recovered from forgoing sleep.

I'm not suggesting you stop making plans and provisions for the future. But by God's grace, choose to live in the present, not under the baggage of the past or burdened by the anxiety of the future. Trust God for the day. He can bring all things to completion. He can be trusted no matter the chaos. Oh, and enjoy the pie. It's a gift from God.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.