“I Know Who Holds Tomorrow”

I’ve heard it said that life is like a toilet paper roll. The closer you get to the end, the faster it seems to go. I can attest to that. I remember impatiently awaiting my sixteenth birthday, already owning my first car, but unable to drive it alone until I passed that milestone and got my driver’s license.

But thirty came soon after that, and fifty, sixty, and sixty-five have zoomed by like traffic around I-285 in Atlanta. And if you are not familiar with I-285, simply give thanks to God and don’t worry about it.

It’s funny. When I turned fifty someone said something to me about being middle-aged. I’m not trying to be morbid, but fifty is not middle-aged for most folks. In fact, we make a big deal about someone living to 100. No, 35-40 is more in the middle-age category. Sorry if that bursts your bubble.

So, what is my point. It’s actually quite simple. Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” The psalmist’s point seems to be to make the most of each day. Each day is a gift, and we are not promised tomorrow.

Last year I preached the funeral of two close friends. One was a 45-year-old pastor who died suddenly of a heart attack. We had been friends and prayer partners for more than a decade. Being twenty years older, I had thought he would preach my funeral. The other was a deacon, golf partner, and close friend from a previous church. Just a little older than I am, he suffered several years from a rare form of cancer. The last time I saw him he weighed less than a hundred pounds. In both cases I grieved deeply. And I was forced to consider my own mortality.

“Man knows not his time,” the preacher wrote in Ecclesiastes. And more and more I realize that is true. As has often been said, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.” And He is true and faithful. He can be trusted. He is good. I pray that you will learn to trust Him more.