Today is Good.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I cannot never not. I cannot, not. I am trying to lay my analytical mind to rest as I try to convince myself that I will never be “there”, since being “there” asserts the lie that I am in the wrong place right now.

I have been struggling with that, too. I feel like right now I am in such a sorrowful, pitiful place where I rarely do what is right, and God is just putting up with me until I finally somehow step up and grow up and get it. But that is actually a LIE, and I have finally begun to identify it. The cross of Christ is holistic, right? It’s not only for my sin but also for my body, mind, and everything I am or ever will be. It is all-inclusive, and it didn’t miss anything. There is no part left unredeemed or ignored. But I find myself getting so down on myself for not being good at everything right now. I feel like I’m always on my tiptoes, straining to see what is up ahead at where I “should be”.

The tactic is genius, really. If the devil can get Christians to think about themselves as below-par (compared to other Christians) and way behind, they will never embrace the grace given them. They will never take up their spiritual weapons, and they will never find freedom. They will be stuck in that sticky mud I just got out of, wallowing in their anxious thoughts and feeling inferior to everyone else. They will be stuck, feeling as if God has forgotten them (along with everyone here on earth) and they are the ones that have the problem. And slowly their faith drains away until the only thing that is left is a binding religion that pulls them into a bondage that’s almost worse than sin.

But if the “now” is OK… if the struggle of today is actually even good… well then, that changes the whole story. If it’s good, then I can hunker down with my Bible, open it up, and expect that the promises be redeemed for me now, the way I am here, in the place of dirt and grit. I don’t have to worry about cleaning up my act before the promises will ring true for me. Didn’t God say that it was the sick that needed a doctor? Jesus did not come and die for the people who were well. He came during the sickness, in the darkest hour of death, and then offered life. If God’s promises were only for those who were totally healthy, then the Bible is for no one, because all have fallen short.

Now this is freeing: That all of Christ, all that he has offered, is for now. Right now. Doom and gloom got you down? Is depression lurking outside your door? Addiction always got your attention? You are welcome here, friend. Welcomed to the place of here and now, where the grace flows and the doctor waits. He is the God of today, because tomorrow never comes. And he carries with him the river that is sparkling and refreshing. The river that runs so clear that nothing can make it dirty. We can splash and play in it, and it stays as perfect as the day it was offered.

Welcome home to today, for today is good... really good.