An article by Bob Burdette
There are two golden days in the week, upon which, and about which, I never worry – two carefree days, kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday; yesterday, with its cares and frets, all its pains and aches, all its faults, mistakes and blunders, have passed forever beyond my recall. I cannot undo an act that I wrought; nor unsay a word that I said.All that it holds of my life, of wrong, regret and sorrow, is in the hands of the Mighty Love that can bring honey out of the rock and sweetest waters out of the bitterest desert. Save for the beautiful memories – sweet and tender – that linger like the perfume of roses in the heart of the day that is gone, I have nothing to do with Yesterday. It was mine! It is God’s!
And the other day that I do not worry about is Tomorrow; tomorrow, with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its perils, its large promise and poor performance, its failures and mistakes, is as far beyond my mastery as its dead sister, Yesterday. It is a day of God’s. Its sun will rise in roseate splendour, or behind a mask of weeping clouds – but it will rise. Until then, the same Love and Patience that held Yesterday holds Tomorrow. Save for the star of hope that gleams forever on the brow of Tomorrow, shining with tender promise into the heart of Today, I have no possession in that unborn day of grace. All else is in the safe keeping of the Infinite Love that is higher than the stars, wider than the skies, deeper than the seas. Tomorrow is God’s day! It will be mine!
There is left for myself, then, but one day in the week-Today. Any man can fight the battles of Today! Any woman can carry the burdens of just one day! Any man can resist the temptations of Today! 0, friends, it is when we wilfully add the burdens of those two awful eternities – Yesterday and Tomorrow – such burdens as only the Mighty God can sustain – that we break down. It isn’t the experience of Today that drives men mad. It is the remorse for something that happened Yesterday; the dread of what Tomorrow may disclose.
These are God’s days! Leave them with Him!
Therefore, I think and I do, and I journey but one day at a time! That is the easy way. That is Man’s Day. Dutifully I run my course and work my appointed task on that Day of ours. God – the All-Mighty and All-Loving takes care ofYesterday and Tomorrow. [End of quote]
I would like to add a comment here from my own experience. Way back on 28th March 1981 the Lord spoke to me in a similar vein to that of Bob Burdette. Here are the words that I heard – “I am the God of the Present Time. I AM is my name. But he is the Beast that was, and IS NOT, and is to come. He seeks to rob my children of the value of the Present Time. He will allow people to talk about Calvary, and even let them discuss the Second Coming, but he firmly and decisively steers them away from all that would allow me to mould man’s character in the Present Time.”
As one who, from my youth as a believer, had been an ardent student of Scripture, gathering whatever materials came my way for investigation, I was very much aware that God had spoken directly into my own heart by these words. I saw just how easy it is for men to talk about events in the past. Books past counting have resulted from the study of all that is past. Furthermore, I found a liberal selection of books that were based on Prophecy, that is called the study of eschatology. These were my daily bread as I learned, absorbed, and enjoyed these studies. But on reflection I saw that in doing so I had neglected the value of Today. During the last 20 years or so, Rosalind and I have been much more aware of the need to pray at the start of each day, of seeking to know the Lord’s will for the day. Kipling once wrote, “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty second’s worth of distance run, yours is the earth and all that’s in it, and what is more, you’ll be a man, my son.”
No wonder the Master spoke as He did in His sermon on the mount. “Be not anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own cares. Sufficient unto the day are its own troubles.” Matthew 6:34
All of our tomorrows have to pass His scrutiny before they reach us. A comforting thought indeed
