MAY 1, 2025

 “Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.” 

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

1 KINGS 1-2

9Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.

11Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it?(1:9-11)...

2“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go" (2:2-3)

LUKE 22:54-71

54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”

57But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

58A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

59About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

60Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.

JOURNAL 

Living in the moment can feel like stepping off a cliff without a parachute.
As I was reading this morning, I couldn’t help but think about the fear, the doubt, and the uncertainty that must have gripped Bathsheba, Nathan, and Solomon. From a human perspective, their future looked completely unstable. After all the chaos surrounding David’s household—the scandal, the shame, the political unrest—it would have been easy for anyone to bet that their story was over. It seemed impossible that Solomon, a boy from such a complicated background, could ever inherit a throne (1 Kings 1:5-31).

Peter must have felt the same way. After boldly proclaiming his loyalty to Jesus, he found himself overwhelmed by fear when everything started to unravel. His shock and panic led him to deny even knowing Christ—three times in the span of a few terrifying hours (Luke 22:54-62). Fear distorted his vision of the future, just like it does for us.

The truth is, the present moment often feels scary.
It rarely seems to match the deep desires of our hearts. It almost never unfolds the way we expect. We don’t get the luxury of seeing how everything will work out ahead of time. And yet, this is exactly the terrain where faith is forged. This is the battleground of trust. As Hebrews reminds us, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, ESV).

God asks us to trust Him right in the middle of terrifying uncertainty. Over and over again, Scripture shows us that it is in these very moments—the moments when we feel abandoned or confused—that God is quietly doing His deepest, most transformative work. Even when everything around us feels like it’s falling apart, we can take comfort: God is always up to something good (Romans 8:28).

C.S. Lewis once put it this way:
"The present is the point at which time touches eternity."
(The Screwtape Letters, Letter XV)

That line has always stayed with me. We can look back and see evidence of God’s hand in our past, and we can hope for His promises to unfold in the future—but the only place we can actually meet Him is in the present. Right here. Right now. Today.

That is the heart of faith: not waiting for perfect clarity, not holding out until life feels safe, but daring to believe that God is already here. Trusting that He is with us not just in theory, but in the messy, fearful, beautiful now.

The challenge—and the invitation—is to find joy even when the ground feels shaky. To anchor ourselves not in what we can see, but in Who we know. God is not waiting for us at some distant checkpoint in the future. He is Emmanuel, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23), dwelling right here in this present moment.

And so today, I remind myself:
I won’t find Him by rehashing my regrets.
I won’t find Him by forecasting all my fears.
I will find Him by standing still, right where I am, and trusting that He is good—even here.

31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
MATTHEW 6:31-3