Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
7 10 2026
The Battle for the Present
“Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite.” — Ecclesiastes 6:9
So, what is living to you?
I hear people say, “I’m living the dream!” What does that even mean? And would that include your life today? I wonder.
Have you ever been in one of those seasons where nothing seems to go smoothly? One closed door after another. Health. Career. Marriage. Relationships. Finances. It seems the list never ends.
So what do we do? We begin looking backward.
We reminisce about “the good old days.” We convince ourselves life used to be so much better. Oh, I know it wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good…and honestly, I’d rather have that than door number three—the one I didn’t even get to choose.
The Israelites did the very same thing. Soon after leaving Pharaoh they began saying they had been better off in Egypt. Better off…as slaves? What a distorted memory.
Today, Google Photos and social media make that distortion even easier. A picture captures a wonderful dinner at a beautiful restaurant with great wine. What it doesn’t capture is the argument you had on the way there, or the burden you carried home afterward. Social media preserves vacations, promotions, anniversaries, trophies, and smiles. It rarely records loneliness, fear, failure, or grief.
Our memories become snapshots instead of stories.
Solomon saw this long before cameras ever existed. “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10)
The past has a strange way of becoming judge and jury over our present.
But yesterday isn’t our only problem.
If the past pulls us backward, the future pulls us forward.
We worry about what might happen. We imagine conversations that never occur. We rehearse disasters that never arrive. We allow uncertainty to rob us of certainty. We surrender today’s peace because of tomorrow’s possibilities.
That is exactly where The Screwtape Letters written by CS Lewis becomes so insightful. Screwtape tells his young apprentice that God wants people focused on what they should do today, while demons want them consumed with what might happen tomorrow. (Get the book)
Think about that.
You cannot obey God tomorrow.
You cannot forgive tomorrow.
You cannot trust tomorrow.
You cannot love tomorrow.
You can only do those things today.
The battle isn’t really between yesterday and tomorrow.
The battle is for the present.
Yesterday no longer exists except in memory. Tomorrow doesn’t yet exist except in imagination. Today is reality. Today is where God has placed us. Today is where His grace meets us.
I’ve often talked about “being present.” The past is gone. A river cannot reverse itself. Yet we keep trying to swim upstream. Or we race ahead into a future we cannot control.
Meanwhile, we miss the moment we’re standing in. The smile we missed. The insight that was right in front of us. The tenderness the moment called for. But we missed it. Now…that must be a sin. **
I recently read something that gave me pause.
“Remember, being happy doesn’t mean you have it all. It simply means you’re thankful for what you have…the people, the memories, and the ordinary moments that make life beautiful. Happiness begins when you stop chasing what is missing and start appreciating what is present.”
Doesn’t that change everything? What is stealing your present joy?
Is it a regret from yesterday? Is it fear about tomorrow?
Experience tells us that most of the things we fear never happen. Yet we willingly allow the uncertainty of tomorrow to steal the certainty of everything God has already placed into our hands today. Even if its the faith the size of a mustard seed.
We lose our peace. We lose our contentment. We lose our appreciation for all the gold already surrounding us.
Maybe we should spend more time writing those blessings down. Creating our own plaque of thankfulness and hanging it in the most prominent place in our homes—and in our hearts. Maybe every day, with our morning coffee, we choose to remember the gifts we woke up to.
Every day we stand before three doors.
Yesterday.
Tomorrow.
Today.
Only one of them is open.
You get to choose which doorway you will walk through. (Every day we choose..unknowingly.)
Will you react to life, or will you respond under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit? Solomon gives us one final piece of wisdom: “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite.” (Ecclesiastes 6:9)
How much of our dissatisfaction comes because our eyes are rarely on what God has already given us? They wander to what used to be…or what we hope someday will be.
C.S. Lewis observed that we often keep looking for yesterday’s blessings while God is trying to show us an entirely new facet of His glory today. We miss the new because we’re still longing for the old.
Isn’t that true?
God’s grace is new every morning. Not just on the mornings we like.
Every opportunity to trust Him comes in the present.
Every opportunity to display the fruit of the Spirit comes in the present.
Every act of obedience happens in the present.
David’s past victories didn’t keep him from future sin. Judas’ three years with Jesus didn’t guarantee faithfulness.
Everything holy—or sinful—we do… we do in the present.
Now is the only place you actually have.
This moment. This conversation. This opportunity. Good..bad..or indifferent.
As Pascal observed, we spend so much time planning to be happy someday that we often forget to be happy today.
Please stop doing that! It’s a trap I was falling into yesterday and today. And so here I am telling you what I am struggling with and what I believe God is saying to me. And I am absolutely certain…I am NOT alone!
Don’t let yesterday become your judge. Don’t let tomorrow become your prison.
Live where God lives. Live in today.
Because this moment is a burning bush.
God invites us to enjoy His presents…and experience His Presence…in the Present.
I would ask you three reflection questions:
- Which doorway do I spend the most time living in—yesterday, tomorrow, or today?
- What is stealing my present joy that I need to surrender to God?
- What gifts has God already placed before my eyes today that I have been overlooking?
“What part of this hit home for you this morning? What are you carrying today that needs prayer? If you’d like, send me a prayer request here. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit in together. (where two are gathered.) You are not walking alone. Just hit reply…
I read every response.”
If you know someone who needs to hear this? Pass this lesson and future devotions, with this Signup link: http://eepurl.com/i_nlb2 . My website to view past devotions is https://fearlesslycourageous.com. This post is public, so feel free to share it.
Broken and Spilled out. Steve Green
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklUAB4E4nA
Leave a Comment