I am a future thinker. An avid planner. A worrier. A minor control freak. Always have been, even as a child. You can blame it on my personality type or my upbringing, but let’s just call it what it really is: sin. Not that thinking forward is sinful. Or planning ahead. But when the worry for tomorrow consumes you so much that you forget about today, that’s when we need to be careful. When I need to be careful. 

Jesus once said that we are “not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” And while I have grown up hearing these words all my life, it wasn’t until I lived with my Haitian brothers and sisters that I fully understood it.  

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. For the average Haitian, being able to think about tomorrow is a luxury. First, they just have to figure out how to survive today. Because of this, there is a common phrase they often say: Bondye konnen or God knows. 

Will you go to school tomorrow? God knows.
Will I see you next week? God knows. 
Will you be able to see the doctor? God knows.  

I’ll be honest. I used to hate this phrase. Of course I knew God knew, but I wanted to know, too. I mean, how else could I plan? 

Gradually, however, God allowed me to understand the beauty behind those two words. (And by gradually, I mean it took a good five years or so.) But after a series of really hard life lessons, I couldn’t help but surrender my desire to always know and be in control. God knew. My Father knew. And that was enough. It had to be. 

No matter where you live in the world, God sees your life from a heavenly perspective. In the midst of chaos, this truth is where you can find your peace. So today, stand firm in the faith that God is the God of what was, what is, and what is still yet to come for your life and your ministry. God knows. Your Father knows.