Dodging Future Bullets

The art assignment was fairly open-ended: "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up." Most of the class got right to work, and soon pictures of soccer players, artists, coaches, road workers, firefighters, golf pros, soldiers, and teachers (awww....) started to emerge. After a few minutes, however, I noticed that one boy in the back row had his head in his hands and a blank paper in front of him. Nearly in tears, he was clearly distressed.

When I asked him what was wrong, he replied, "I just can't decide what I want to be! I really don't want to do a life-threatening job...but those are the only fun ones!"

He agonized a few more minutes longer, and then self-preservation must have won out. At the end of art time, he turned in a charming picture of a (drumroll please)...cook. I'm fairly certain that wasn't on the "life-threatening" list.

I relate to this young man. While I've never hankered for a life-threatening job, I have spent a large share of my life worrying about decisions and events that weren't even on the horizon yet. I have worried about what I would wear to jobs I never applied for, how to discipline children I haven't conceived, what to bring on trips I've never taken and even how I would break up with a guy who, as it turned out, never even asked me out (maybe he picked up on that vibe). To borrow my friend Rosa's words, I'm all about dodging future bullets.

The thing is, I'm about as equipped to solve all my future problems as my second-grader is to decide on his life's occupation at the age of eight. Not only that, but I have this day to live, and I tend to miss it if I'm fixated on the future. I have a lot to learn about what really matters in my todays before I move on to my tomorrows.

In the words of Jesus, "So don't worry, saying 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' [how did Jesus know?] For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:31-34)