SEPTEMBER 11, 2026

 “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to 

succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.” 

― Abraham Lincoln

PROVERBS 19-20

21Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

22What a person desires is unfailing love^b ;

better to be poor than a liar. (19:21-22)

2 CORINTHIANS 3

4Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

JOURNAL 

God's God’s purpose and His Spirit are what ultimately prevail. I can make plans, pursue goals, prepare, work, and try to solve the problems in front of me, but none of those outcomes are ultimately mine to control. What is mine is today. What is mine is the opportunity to be faithful to the light I have been given, to work, to love, and to allow God’s Spirit to be reflected through me in whatever this day brings.

That may be the lesson I take most deeply from 9/11. On that morning, thousands of people woke up believing they were beginning another ordinary day. They went to work, boarded airplanes, dropped children off, kissed spouses goodbye, answered phones, sat in meetings, and began working through whatever problems happened to be in front of them. None of them knew that before the day was over, countless individual stories of courage, sacrifice, fear, love, loss, and heroism would be permanently etched into history.

We remember those stories because we know what happened that day. But how many days have passed since then that I have treated as ordinary? How many mornings have I rushed through because my mind was already living in tomorrow? How many tasks have I viewed simply as something to finish so I could get to the next thing? How many problems have I resented rather than recognizing that the way I respond to that problem is itself part of the story of my life?

Maybe a day is its own life. Maybe every task, conversation, problem, practice, class, relationship, and difficult moment is its own little story. It has a beginning, a struggle, an opportunity to respond, and an ending. I do not have to carry tomorrow while I am living it. I simply need to be willing to work today, and then work the task in front of me as though it matters, because it does.

That changes work from something I endure into something I am privileged to participate in. It changes problems from interruptions into opportunities to practice faith, discipline, courage, patience, and love. I am not bound to win every battle or produce every outcome I desire. As Lincoln said, I am bound to be true. I am bound to live faithfully according to the light I have been given.

Twenty-five years from now, today may seem insignificant. But that is only because I cannot yet see its entire story. The people who woke up on September 11, 2001 could not see theirs either. That is why today deserves to be cherished, not by avoiding work or difficulty, but by entering fully into both. Work the problem. Love the person. Teach the class. Coach the player. Make the call. Face the difficult thing. Give everything this moment deserves, and then surrender the outcome to God.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Perhaps part of that freedom is being released from the burden of controlling tomorrow so that I can finally inhabit today. God has given me this day. My responsibility is not to determine how the story ends. It is to faithfully live the part of the story He has placed in front of me.

And if I can do that, then no day is ordinary...

 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:16-18