Adapt

I was lying in bed, settled down for the night, and feeling lonely, as I sometimes do. I thought, I’ll have to adapt myself to this, because this is the way it is! Immediately I could feel my emotions sag even further, and since I have learned that unpleasant emotions are nearly always a direct result of inaccurate thoughts, I pulled that thought out of the line and investigated it further.

There is no such thing, I concluded, as "adapting to the present," because the present is constantly changing. In reality, our only options are reacting to the past, and anticipating the future. We are often afraid to anticipate the future, because we may be wrong. It feels safer to react to the past, when in fact that will always be fruitless. When we wish to kill a fly, for instance, it is pointless to swing at the place that the fly is, at the moment you begin your swing: by the time the swatter reaches that place, the fly will be elsewhere.

God has given us exactly what we need in order to anticipate the future: His promises. In my scenario, the Lord told me He had to give me a house before He could give me a husband. Ten months later, He gave me a house, so what logical reason do I have for adapting myself to being lonely? I have a two-fold promise from Him, and He’s kept half of the promise, so why should I prepare myself for His not keeping the second half of His promise? It is not fanciful for me to anticipate no longer being lonely; it is, in fact, the only rational thing for me to do.

If I react to the past loneliness, on the other hand, I will make my future more difficult. Anticipation is mental preparation—often leading into practical or material preparation, as well—and we can all agree that being mentally prepared for something makes that event, if not a ‘piece of cake,’ at least a much more pleasant experience. Reacting to the past is preparing for an event that will not happen and one that is usually in direct contrast to what takes place. If I react to the past, I will be disappointed and will expend my energies entirely in vain.

As an excuse for not being prepared, we often use phrases like, "you never know what will happen." For those without the Spirit of God—or for those who ignore what they have access to—that is correct. It is true that, like Jesus, we don’t know "the hour or the day," but that doesn’t mean we are relegated to a position of ignorance regarding the future. I don’t know when the Lord will bring my companion into my life, but I know He will. I know this because He said it.

We can, for the most part, forget about our past. Let’s anticipate the future God has promised, and prepare ourselves for it.

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