So many of us wonder, “What is God’s purpose for my life? What does He want me to do with my time on this earth?”  But those are not the questions that we are meant to concern ourselves with.  Instead, our question should be, “What does God want me to accomplish today?”

Trying to plan out your entire life doesn’t make sense. You can’t predict what will happen to you, or what unexpected issues may arise that could interfere with your plans.  For instance, you can’t predict if your marriage will succeed or fail.  You can’t predict if you or someone you love will have an illness.  You can’t predict if you will lose your job due to an economic downturn.

What you do have control over is what you can accomplish today. Today, you can choose to get up early.  Today, you can choose to give some of your time to God, either in prayer or in spiritually uplifting reading.  Today, you can choose to give some time to your work and some time to serving others.  Today, you can choose to not engage in pointless activities like watching silly television shows, surfing the Internet or engaging in negative thinking.

The choices that you make today are shaping the rest of your life. With each day that you make good choices, you are building a foundation on which God can do great things in your life.  Life isn’t so daunting when we take it in small chunks, like that.  Just deal with today.

For instance, today I got up at 6 a.m. I drove my daughter to school, as I do each day, because I find that the drive to school is a good time to talk to her and to get her day started off in a positive way.  Often while driving, she and I will listen to podcasts about current events and talk about them.  She could take the bus, but I find that the drive to school is a valuable time to parent when my kid is a “captive” audience!

For the rest of today, I will spend part of my day doing legal work and part of my day writing. In both, I always try to do my best because I believe that my work isn’t just for the purpose of making money.  Instead, I look at my work as a way to serve society.  The better I do my work, the better it is for each person who interacts with me (or who reads what I write).  I want everything I do to leave a positive “footprint” on the world.

Some of my day also will be spent in service – taking care of my husband and daughter, and taking care of our menagerie of pets. Some of my day will be spent doing work for our church’s Sunday School.  And hopefully in the midst of all that, I will find time for prayer and reflection!

And that is a day spent doing my best. I’m not doing anything terribly momentous.  I’m not saving lives or giving big speeches.  But my hope is that today I am laying a foundation of hard work and service that God can use in my future.  That is all I can do.  I can’t anticipate what God is going to do with my future, how he is going to use me, or what opportunities he may send my way.  All I can do is do my best with what I have today.

That approach provides me with a great sense of relief! Just doing my best today relieves me of having to worry about tomorrow or next year.  I simply can focus on giving today’s tasks my very best effort, knowing that the ultimate outcome of my efforts will be decided by God.

Happiness comes from doing our best, and not worrying about what we cannot control. When we do our best, we are happy with ourselves.  We live our lives without regrets.  But when we obsess about the outcomes of our efforts, we live a life in which we are trying to control what only God can control.  Doing so is not only futile, it is stressful.

Today, just do your best, and let God take care of the outcomes of your efforts. Have faith that God has a good plan for your and for your life.  When you give up trying to control the outcomes, you will be pleasantly surprised by the blessings and opportunities that He will send your way.

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