Better is One Day in God’s Courts Than a 1,000 Elsewheres

Or we could say, Better is one Day in God’s courts than a 1,000 worries.

When thinking about how worrying works, I thought of the following Scripture.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;. . .Psalm 84:10 ESV

You might say, that Scripture has nothing to do with worrying and you would be right, but it helps me get a mental image of how worrying works on me, and perhaps on you. When I worry, my minds drifts off into a thousand elsewheres or scenarios, mostly about tomorrow, scenarios other than who my God is and what my God can do, not only for me but through me, toDAY.  

If you’ve ever wanted to know how to live one DAY at a time trusting God, and be encouraged in how to do so, then read on! 

Time doesn’t intimidate God. God controls time. One DAY trusting God has unlimited possibilities. God can do way more with a DAY then we could ever do. Let Him!

be not ignorant of this one thing, that one DAY is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one DAY. 2 Peter 3:8 

Planning for tomorrow is good, but we should definitely include God in our plans. 

… you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:14 ESV

We should ask God what His will is about a vacation, a job prospect, a friendship, before we plan. We more than likely will not receive an audible voice from Him. We may not even seem to get an answer from Him, but we ask Him. We include Him. We believe He will answer us somehow. We plan, but we invite God to change our plans if He wills. 

For God alone knows what each DAY will bring. 

Don’t brag about what may happen tomorrow because you have no idea what it will bring. Proverbs 27:1 Voice

Hope for tomorrow is good because it involves faith in God. God can do anything at anytime.

The births of Jesus and John the Baptist are prime examples of what good a tomorrow might bring. Their births were foretold. Their births were believed. Their births came.

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:34-37

Worrying about tomorrow is not good.  Jesus said to consider how well cared for the birds and the flowers are and how they don’t worry, they just live in the benefits of the DAY. Now, I realize we are not birds and flowers and we do have to work and plan, but God wants us to believe He cares for us as we do. We would have nothing without God so we definitely should put God first. Consider God before considering, all the worries!

“So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?

“So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.

“So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one DAY at a time. Matthew 6:25-34 TLB

Besides, all our worrying cannot benefit our situation, but all of our, one DAY at a times,  trusting and obeying God, can lead to good things. We benefit from God’s peace when we pray to God about our situation and thank Him for His help. 

One DAY praying is better. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 TLB

One DAY worshipping is better. Believing in adoration has a way of alleviating apprehension.

From now on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with a right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 TPT

We can’t be worrying as much when we’re praising. Our God is an awesome God. Every DAY we should praise God for His goodness and for His greatness! 

In God we boast all the DAY long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah. Psalm 44:8 

Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the DAY. Psalm 71:8 

My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the DAY; for I know not the numbers thereof. Psalm 71:15 

One DAY obeying is better. If we have the means toDAY to help someone, we should help them toDAY. Thinking of others can get our minds off ourselves.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. Proverbs 3:28

It’s better to live in the present DAY, loving God and others as God wills for us to do, than living in some awful, future scenario we make up in our own heads that more than likely will never happen. When we’re busy loving God and others in practical ways, it tends to distract us from our worries.

In a DAY we not only can give material gifts, we can share the talents God’s given us. Moses wrote a beautiful song about how God delivered His people. He wrote it in a DAY, but the song was about many DAYS! God has given us all specific gifts to use for His glory. Instead of worrying, walk in our gifts! We will be doing what we’re created to do, and when we’re doing what we’re created to do, God always gets the glory! 

Moses therefore wrote this song the same DAY, and taught it the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 31:22 KJV

We can live one DAY at a time forgiving and being forgiven. When we forgive and are forgiven we are trusting and obeying God.

If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a DAY and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive. Luke 17:3-4 NLT

In a DAY, church and evangelism can happen by trusting and obeying!

So continuing DAILY with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church DAILY those who were being saved.Acts 2:46-47

And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number DAILY. 

Acts 16:5 

One DAY fellowshipping is better. Living in the DAY, we can be encouraging to others and be encouraged by others in the Lord,!

Encourage each other every DAY—for as long as we can still say “toDAY” 

so none of you let the deceitfulness of sin harden your hearts. Hebrews 3:13 Voice

One DAY trusting is better. Trusting one DAY at a time can only be done by committing to live by faith one DAY at a time, cause living by faith one DAY at a time doesn’t just happen!

Moses warned Pharaoh countless times that he would be facing plagues when tomorrow comes if he didn’t believe God that day. Now, I’m not saying God will send plagues our way if we don’t believe Him, but we all know how worrying can ‘plague’ us. When we worry, we go through all kinds of thought cycles that are not good and it can be torture. We live through things that more than likely will never happen. If bad things happen, wouldn’t it be better if we were to be faith-filled rather than fear-filled when they do? 

It’s a DAILY fight not to worry! We have to fight off worry! Worry is a weapon used against us by the enemy. The enemy does not want us to live out our DAYS trusting God. Like I said, committing to live ONE day at a time trusting God doesn’t just happen.

When we worry, our imagination can get the best of us. It is better to live out each DAY in God’s presence, than in a 1,000 elsewheres! We live out each DAY in God’s presence by committing to the faith connections like, Bible study, prayer, worship, obedience and fellowship. Then, when our minds begin to wander off, the faith connections should bring us back into ‘God’s courts’. 

For the rest of this blog, I’m going to list some of the amazing things that has happened in history in a DAY. I pray this helps build your faith up in all the wonderful things that can happen in a DAY as we live in the DAY!

In a DAY, different aspects of creation happened!  

Read Genesis, chapter one to find out what all was created each DAY and why. 

And the evening and the morning were the first DAY. 

And the evening and the morning were the second DAY.

And the evening and the morning were the third DAY.

And the evening and the morning were the fourth DAY.

And the evening and the morning were the fifth DAY.

And the evening and the morning were the sixth DAY.

And on the seventh DAY God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh DAY from all his work which he had made.Genesis 1:5, 8,13,19,23, 31, 2:2

In a day, salvation happened!

Noah was warned about a great flood. Before the first DAY of the flood, Noah believed God about that DAY and lived out each DAY up until that DAY obeying what God told him to do to prepare for the flood and save his family. People tend to obey God when they trust God. And Noah’s family was saved! Our DAILY faithfulness to God can help lead our family to the present DAY ark, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. Genesis 6:22

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth DAY of the month, on that DAY all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same DAY Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:11-16

Noah was another who trusted God. When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed him even though there was then no sign of a flood, and wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family. Hebrews 11:7 TLB

In a DAY, provision happened.

God rained a daily ration of bread down to His people in the time of Moses and they were not to gather more than their DAILY allotment. If they tried to gather tomorrow’s bread, they were disobedient and it proved they didn’t really trust God for their DAILY bread. 

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every DAY, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth DAY they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather DAILY. Exodus 16:4-5 

There is bread for our bodies and there is bread for our souls. The bread for our souls is the Lord. We don’t want DAY old bread in the natural, why would we want DAY old bread in the spiritual? Get a fresh supply of spiritual bread DAILY by spending time with God.

Give us this DAY our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

In a DAY, deliverance can happen!

The DAY came when the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. It took many signs and wonders up until that DAY, but because Moses and Aaron were faithful in what God told them to do each DAY up until that DAY, it happened! 

Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass the selfsame DAY, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. Exodus 12:50-51 

The DAY came when God took care of the enemies of His people in one miraculous act! God knew what all would have to happen for that DAY to turn out like it did. God knows what all will have to happen to bring miracles our way. We must trust all the steps even if we don’t understand them. Moses trusted the steps. Moses obeyed the steps. And the miracle DAY came!

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to DAY: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to DAY, ye shall see them again no more forever. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea…And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left…And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen…And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea…But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left…Thus the LORD saved Israel that DAY out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. Read Exodus 14 

In a Day, divine direction can happen!

The Lord led His people by DAY and by NIGHT. They didn’t know where they were going from one DAY until the next, but they followed the Lord. We have to do the same.

And the Lord went before them by DAY in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by DAY and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by DAY, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Exodus 13:21-22 

In a DAY, a promise can happen!

One DAY, Israel finally passed over into the promise land! There were many steps they had to take before they got there, but they got there. They got there one step at a time, trusting and obeying. 

Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this DAY, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, Deuteronomy 9:1 

In a DAY, victory can happen!

In a DAY, the walls of Jericho came down! They came down after they were compassed about for 6 DAYS prior, as God instructed.

And it came to pass on the seventh DAY, that they rose early about the dawning of the DAY, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that DAY they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. Joshua 6:15-16,20 

In a DAY, a giant came down by faith which proved to all the earth that there was a God in Israel. Of course, David lived the DAYS prior faithfully which led to the eventful, victorious DAY. Living one DAY out at a time, trusting God can lead to a giant defeating kind of DAY! And God victories have a way of pointing others to God!

This DAY the Lord will give you into my hands. I will knock you down and cut off your head. This DAY I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth. Then all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. All these people gathered here may know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” Then the Philistine rose up and came to meet David. And David rushed to the center of the valley to meet the Philistine. David put his hand into his bag, took out a stone and threw it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone went into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.1 Samuel 17:46-49NLV

In a DAY, favor can happen!

Rahab and her family’s lives were spared because of what she decided to do one DAY by faith. She had heard about how God made a path through the sea for Israel and other mighty acts, and these pointed her to God.  When she hid the spies she acted in faith. One act of faith can change our lives and the lives of our families for the better.

Live each day learning about God, believing God!

“I know perfectly well that your God is going to give my country to you,” she told them. We are all afraid of you; everyone is terrified if the word Israel is even mentioned. For we have heard how the Lord made a path through the Red Sea for you when you left Egypt! And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, and how you ruined their land and completely destroyed their people. No wonder we are afraid of you! No one has any fight left in him after hearing things like that, for your God is the supreme God of heaven, not just an ordinary god. Now I beg for this one thing: Swear to me by the sacred name of your God that when Jericho is conquered you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families. This is only fair after the way I have helped you.”The men agreed. “If you won’t betray us, we’ll see to it that you and your family aren’t harmed,” they promised. “We’ll defend you with our lives.” Then, since her house was on top of the city wall, she let them down by a rope from a window. Joshua 2:9-14 TLB

By faith—because she believed in God and his power—Rahab the harlot did not die with all the others in her city when they refused to obey God, for she gave a friendly welcome to the spies. Hebrews 11:31 TLB

And every DAY, mercy happens!

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new EVERY MORNING: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 

PRAYER

Lord, you created all things in ONE DAY increments. We would not have ONE DAY without You. Thank you for TODAY. Help us remember You in it, inquire of You in it, before we plan our tomorrows. We have hope for tomorrow because of You, but help us not worry about our tomorrows. If we find ourselves worrying over our yesterday or our tomorrow, bring us back to toDAY so we can live it out to its fullest by faith!  Thank you for toDAY because toDAY holds many faith possibilities like; mercy, faith, provision, salvation, healing, charity, victory, encouragement, guidance, miracles, obedience, working and rest, promises, blessings, thanksgiving and praise, witnessing, gifts, good habits, holy living, light, strength, renewal, resurrection power, forgiveness, fellowship and grace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Last thoughts

Many times in Scripture the phrase, all the DAYS of one’s life is used. I think this is significant. All the DAYs of our lives, matter!

Samuel judged Israel all the DAYs of his life. 1 Samuel 7:15 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the DAYs of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalm 23:6 

satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our DAYs. 

Psalm 90:14 

all the DAYs of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: Genesis 5:23 

She will do him good and not evil all the DAYs of her life. Proverbs 31:12

Teach us to number our DAYS, so that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12 

Jesus Christ the same yesterDAY, and to DAY, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Bonus Scriptures

One blessed DAY, Christ our Savior was born!

for toDAY in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

One blessed DAY, resurrection happened!

And they shall kill him, and the third DAY he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. Matthew 17:23 

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matthew 27:52-53

One blessed DAY, another resurrection will happen.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

One blessed DAY, the baptism of the Holy Ghost happened! God is still baptizing believers with the gift of the Holy Ghost toDAY!

And when the DAY of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

… Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:1-4;  38-30