It’s good to plan ahead, as all the insurance and investment ads remind us on TV. The Bible exhorts us to store up provisions for the future (Proverbs 6:7-8) and to look forward to Christ’s return (1 Peter 1:13). But the Bible finely balances our focus on a glorious future with practical encouragement for living in the sometimes difficult present.
Swedish hymn writer, Lina Sandell, captures a here-and-now life of dependence on God in her song, Day by Day. History tells us that Lina was a pastor’s daughter who wrote more than 600 hymns for the church. Tragically, as a young woman, Lina saw her father fall overboard from a ship and drown. Only by God’s grace could she later pen these words:
Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best
Lovingly, it’s part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
Every day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Power.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.
Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
Ever to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.
