Consider the Lilies (Looking Ahead)

There’s something special about the start of a new season. It’s a clean slate, full of new opportunities. It’s a moment when you can feel that glimmer of hope pulsing through your veins. It’s a moment when you can think to yourself, Maybe this is finally the time…

It’s also a moment to look ahead.

My third track season started last week, and just a few days ago I was looking at our season’s schedule. My eyes immediately fell on the final race dates.

And immediately I began wondering what will happen during those final races. Will I run the times that I want run, or maybe even faster times than I can imagine? Or will I have a bad race day? Will I even get to race at all?

Looking ahead as a road full of possibilities stretches out before you—It’s something that can fill you with hope. But it can also fill you with anxiety. And it will certainly fill you with questions.

We can’t know what the future holds. Not until we live it.

And all those stats and records and previous times—not even the best data can predict the results of a race.

But there’s a God Who already knows those race results. And there’s a God Who knows you future. He doesn’t just know your future; He laid out your future. He laid out the road that lies before you.

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1). God’s already marked out a course for us.

And He marked out one specifically for you. It’s the one that you’re running right now.

As I looked at that race schedule, and all those thoughts rushed through my mind, I realized that maybe it would be better to take this next season one day at a time. Maybe it would be better to take each practice, and every race, one step at time.

You don’t have to look ahead at the mountains lying before you if you can instead conquer those mountains step by step.

“Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.”

~Matthew 6:34, CSB

Not worrying about tomorrow isn’t just not thinking about tomorrow. It requires trust.

It’s trusting that God has a plan and that He will provide.

As long as you’re stepping in the right direction—as long as you’re running down the road that He set out for you—God will provide you with what you need to keep going.

As long as you’re stepping in the right direction, God will provide you with what you need to keep going.

And sometimes that provision is hard to see. But it requires trust.

When I first started this blog, I was worried that I would run out of ideas for articles or run out of the time to write those articles. But somehow, I keep having ideas. I keep having time.

But that’s not to say that there won’t be times when I’m reaching the bottom of my ideas stack or becoming overwhelmed by a pile of other tasks.

And the thing about life is, even with God’s promise of provision, it’s not to say that there won’t be hard times down the road.

But the beautiful thing about those hard times is that they force us, as weary wanderers, to lift our eyes and call out to the only One who can carry us through our pain.

And they force us to pause and look for God’s provision. It’s still there in the broken places.

You’ll still see the lilies on the edge of the beaten path.

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow”

~Matthew 6:28, ESV

The lilies are those little reminders of God’s presence. Consider how the lilies grow roots in His love and blossom in His provision.

And consider how the lilies bloom again every spring. Even after the hard winter, they bloom again in the spring.

If you’re going through a rough season right now… I just want you to know that you’re going to come out of it.

You can keep going, not by looking at the mountains ahead of you, but by running life’s race one step at a time.

And you can keep going, not by worrying about the future, but by remembering the promised finished line: the promise of eternity.

There may be times when clinging to that promise is the only thing that drives you forward. The only hope for this life is the promise of the next. The only hope for this world is the promise that it will be made new.

And yet, we still find ourselves here in this life, here in this world.

God’s given us a chance to live like the lilies.

He’s given us the chance to grow roots in His love and blossom in His provision.

But are you going to take that chance?

It’s a new season. It’s time for a fresh start. Spring is blooming, and so are the lilies.

I think it’s the time to start blooming along with them.

As we talk about new seasons and looking ahead, I wanted to thank all of you for being with me on this journey. I’ve realized that my blog has turned into my ministry, and soon I’m hoping to take the next major steps in helping it grow. I don’t know where this blog is going to lead me, but I’m going to take it one step at a time. Thanks for joining along the way!