Yana Conner
A few years ago, a good friend of mine named Josh asked, “Yana, how might you experience more joy and peace in your life if you stopped trying to ‘seize the day’ and instead received the day?”
When I would complain about how my day wasn’t going my way to his wife, Jacelyn, she would often sing to me: This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. It was wonderfully annoying.
Then there was this one day. The day when in response to one of my anxious rant, Jacelyn had the audacity to ask me, "Friend, when are you going to surrender?" I was hot! I didn’t appreciate how she came for me at that moment, but now I often ask myself that same question when my days and weeks don't go as planned: Yana, when are you going to surrender?
Enter stage left: the coronavirus.
LIFE ON HOLD
No one could've imagined 2020 would start out with the NBA postponing their seasons, major corporations closing their doors, and kids being out of school for two months or more. This pandemic has completely altered the content of our days.
We had plans! Booked flights! Applied for Internships! Planned weddings!
Now our plans are on hold . . . indefinitely.
The coronavirus has literally forced us into a “receive-the-day” mentality. Every day is an adventure filled with new updates, more restrictions, and an endless amount of unanswered questions.
I don't know when the leadership cohort I've been leading will be rescheduled. I have no idea when the book project I was so excited to start this month will be put back on the table. My heart dropped when I got the emails that these projects (and the resulting compensation) would be on hold. I have savings, but they were supposed to be for a rainy day or spur-of-the-moment trip to St. Thomas with friends—not a pandemic!
But before I threw a full-on adult tantrum, the Spirit reminded me to receive the day rather than seeking to seize it.
CORNERED
When things aren't going my way, and I'm seeking to seize the day, I become like a boxer stuck in a corner, frantically trying to fight my way out. They say a boxer naturally panics when they get pinned in the corner. For a moment, they forget their training. All they want to do is get out. They don’t like having someone assert their power over them, inhibiting their movements.
The coronavirus has us cornered. These unseen particles are asserting their power over our plans, schedules, and comforts, inhibiting our ability to move freely in the world. We’re panicking like a boxer in a corner trying to find their way out.
And we’re doing this now because it’s what we always do.
IF THE LORD WILLS . . .
James, writing to people who assumed their plans were certain, said,
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. (Jas. 5:13–17)
When’s the last time you said, “If the Lord wills, the kids will go to school tomorrow, we will have church on Sunday, or I will get paid on Friday”? When’s the last time, you willingly leaned into the uncertainty of life?
Pastor John Onwuchekwa says, "Many of us spend our days trying to manipulate the details of our lives to get the lives of our dreams." In doing this, we live a lie and believe we have control over what happens in our lives. But, we don’t!
We wake up with a "seize-the-day" mentality only for our day to be derailed by a flat tire, a neighbor calling with a pressing need, or the unexpected death of a loved one. In these moments, we are reminded of the fragility of our plans, rhythms, and schedules.
How has the coronavirus interrupted your plans? How has it wreaked havoc on your family's daily rhythms? What sacred habits has it disrupted?
And how are you responding to this disruption? Are you in the corner, frantically looking for ways to seize the day and regain your false sense of control? Or are you receiving the days as they unfold?
THREE TRUTHS TO HELP YOU RECEIVE THE DAY
Let me put some truths before you—truths that invite you to surrender and receive the limitations placed on us with joy.
God works in all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes (Rom. 8:28). If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, he is working in all things for your good. God is working when you’re home alone or in a house full of people who won't stop calling your name. He is working right now to bring about his definition of good in you, which is this: "For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29).
The good God is always working to transform you into the image of Christ. How might God be using this massive interruption to work Christlikeness in you? How is he inviting you to demonstrate Christlike love and generosity towards those around you (2 Cor. 8:1–9; 1 Jn. 1:16–18)?
The Lord is your Shepherd, so you have everything you need (Ps. 23:1). You might not have everything you want, but if the all-knowing, forever-loving, all-powerful, everywhere-at-all-times God is your Shepherd, you have everything you need. Why? Because he knew what needed before the coronavirus ever hit (see Matt. 6:8). Because he loves you so much that if you ask for a piece of bread, he will not give you a stone (Matt. 7:9). Because he is literally holding the cosmos together and has you and the whole world in his hands (Col. 1:17).
So yes, Amazon is suspending all unnecessary shipping and there isn't any toilet paper at your local Target. But if God is your Shepherd, then you have everything you need.
You live in this world with God and with hope (Eph. 2:12). Believers live in this world with God’s abiding presence and an eternal hope. Therefore, you can be confident that the God of all grace, who is with you, will himself strengthen and support you in any way you may need (1 Pet. 5:10). If you need an extra measure of patience not to yell at your child who continues to interrupt you while you work, the God of all grace is with you and will strengthen you. If you’re struggling with anxiety or loneliness, the God of all grace is with you and will support you.
You can be confident that one day you will escape the physical and spiritual pandemics of this world. You will be tempted to be fearful about a lot of things over the next few weeks (or however long this will be). But if the worst-case scenario is death, there is no need to fear! Death for us means life and eternity with God. Death for us means no more crying, no more pain, and no more pandemics.
RECEIVE THE DAY
If the statements above are false, we have every reason to wake up with a “seize-the-day” mentality and frantically advocate for our well-being.
But if these things are true, we have every reason to receive our days because we have accepted that we are not in control and that the One who is, genuinely loves and cares for us.
Now it’s your turn to answer the question: When are you going to surrender?
Yana Conner is a proud St. Louis native residing in Durham, NC. After fifteen years of full-time ministry in both the parachurch and church context, she still can’t get over the fact she gets to dedicate her life to making disciples. She recently graduated with a Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Theological Seminary and serves as an Associate Campus Director at the Downtown Durham Campus of the Summit Church. You can follow her on Twitter (@yanajenay).
Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/2020/3/30/receive-the-day