When I became ill 18 years ago, I began to learn the hard lesson of living one day at a time.

I started living that way out of necessity, not choice. I doubt that any of us would willingly give up our ability to plan our lives. We all love to make our plans and enjoy striving toward our goals. We also gain a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment in seeing our plans succeed. In many cases, our plans represent our identity and purpose for our lives.

However, when we are faced with illness or disability, we no longer have that freedom to make plans and see them through. This loss is devastating and one of the most difficult adjustments. Virtually everyone I have spoken to has shared their frustration of being unable to confidently plan ahead because of their conditions. Added to that frustration is the resulting lack of personal contact that can occur and many times along with that, the heartbreaking loss of friends.

Living like that definitely changes a person and their perspective on life. It's like we no longer have control over our life. Things that seemed important and impossible to live without somehow fade away. It is also surprising that without them, our lives go on. We no longer identify ourselves by what we do or how busy and important we are. We look at ourselves and our worth apart from our job, abilities or talents and we often do not like it. We come to the end of ourselves.

I fought this change. I did not want to give up my plans and ideas. I did, however, soon come to realize that I was only making myself worse, and it was more important for me to concentrate on getting better.

That entailed a lot of rest, letting go of plans, and living one day at a time in a state of uncertainty, never knowing what the next day would bring. This brought me to a place of total dependence on God and His will. Remembering Jesus' promise in Matthew 11, verse 28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I turned to Him for strength and provision for each day and He has never let me down. It seems to me that it is in the very coming to the end of ourselves that creates the way for God to bring a new beginning and purpose into our lives.

After all these years and despite the improvement in my health, I still know the importance of pacing myself. Even to this day, I see my plans changed from time to time because of exhaustion or pain, or a bad day. But instead of fighting it, I now experience a peace and beauty in taking each day as it comes because of the knowledge that the Lord is with me, that He has brought me this far, and will continue to guide me, just as His word says in Proverbs 16, verse 9: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Whether we are in good health or not, we never know what the next day will bring, but we do know that God will bring us through if we ask Him into our lives. Although it is good to make plans, it is more important to have our trust in the Lord, because only He knows the beginning from the end.

"One day at a time sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from you.
Just give me the strength
To do everyday what I have to do.
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time"
- One Day at a Time, By Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson.

Patricia Bryan is the pastor of His Path Christian Centre (pat@hispath.org).

Column – Acts of Faith Sep 16 2006
By Pat Bryan, NEWS Columnist