“For He says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” — 2 Corinthians 6:2
If all we have is today, then why do we think so much about yesterday, which does not exist anymore, and tomorrow, which has not yet happened and has no guarantee it will come to be? Even if tomorrow happens, there is no way we could possibly know what it looks like. You can be extremely organized and uber prepared, but that doesn’t make the next day come to reality.
The raw and ruthless reality is that we are absolutely not in control. We simply exist in the moment. We have no control over the greater movement of the world around us. Can we influence? Sure. Can we be a part of motion within the boundaries of the greater movement? Absolutely. Man can do a lot with the tangible in the context of the here and now. But even this has to ultimately be approved and allowed by the Creator and Sustainer of all things, tangible and otherwise.
For leaders, that sentence should simultaneously terrify and free you. Terrify, because you’ve built an entire career on planning, preparing, and projecting forward. Free, because it means the weight of the future was never yours to carry.
The Wrong Math
What if our math is wrong? It seems like we measure today by adding what we remember about yesterday and what we think about tomorrow. From this, we get what is inevitable for today.
One of the problems with this math is addressed by Albert Einstein: “Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events.”
We can’t trust our own memory as the primary source for what was, is, and is to come. Our “today” has to be more than just the sum total of all our yesterdays, or even our perception of them. Of course you understand that the past affects the present. But the past does not have the power to determine our today.
Leaders are especially prone to this bad math. You carry yesterday into today in ways you don’t even realize. The failure from last quarter colors how you approach this quarter. The betrayal from a former team member shapes how you trust your current team. The sermon that fell flat makes you second-guess the next one. The conflict that went poorly makes you avoid the next hard conversation. You’re not leading in today. You’re leading in a version of today that’s been distorted by your memory of yesterday.
And the other side of the equation is just as dangerous. The anxiety about tomorrow hijacks the decisions you make today. You hoard resources because you’re afraid of what might happen. You overwork because you’re trying to prevent a future you can’t see. You make fear-based decisions in the present because your mind is already living in a worst-case scenario that hasn’t happened yet.
Yesterday plus tomorrow does not equal today. But that’s the math most leaders are using. And it’s producing a distorted version of the life God has actually placed in front of them right now.
The Leader Trapped in Yesterday
I’ve walked with leaders who were so defined by their past that they couldn’t see the present clearly. A pastor who made a devastating mistake ten years ago and still leads every day as if he’s on probation. A ministry leader who was hurt by a team she trusted and now keeps everyone at arm’s length, even the people God has sent to help her. A leader who experienced a season of failure and now interprets every new challenge as confirmation that he’s not cut out for this.
The past is real. It happened. And it shaped you. But it does not get to determine you. The leader who lets yesterday write the script for today will never lead with the freedom and confidence that God intended. Because God is not asking you to lead from your past. He’s asking you to lead from His presence. And His presence is only available in one tense: now.
Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. This day. The one you’re in right now. The one that has God’s fingerprints all over it, regardless of what yesterday looked like or what tomorrow might bring.
The Leader Paralyzed by Tomorrow
The other trap is equally destructive. Leaders who are so consumed with tomorrow that they miss today entirely. The strategic planner who is so focused on the five-year vision that they neglect the person sitting across from them right now. The leader who is so anxious about what might go wrong next week that they can’t enjoy what God is doing this week. The pastor who is so worried about the church’s future that they’ve stopped being present with the church as it exists today.
Jesus addressed this directly in Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” That’s not an invitation to be irresponsible. It’s an invitation to be present. Today has enough in it. Today has enough challenge, enough opportunity, enough grace, and enough of God’s presence to fill every moment if you’ll let it. But you’ll miss all of it if your mind is already living in a tomorrow that hasn’t arrived.
For leaders, this is one of the hardest disciplines to develop. Your job literally involves planning for the future. Vision casting is about tomorrow. Strategic planning is about next quarter. Succession is about next decade. But there’s a difference between planning for tomorrow and living in tomorrow. Planning is stewardship. Living in tomorrow is anxiety dressed up as responsibility. And God never asked you to carry the weight of a day that hasn’t come yet.
The Eternal Weight of Today
However, here’s a catch in all these equations. Ultimately, what you decide today can indeed affect your forever.
You see, should you choose to heed the instructions given to us all throughout God’s Word, confess your sins and trust your life to God through faith in Jesus, your eternity is secured and your purpose here set. Unfortunately, there is another side to this equation. Should you choose not to make that decision today, and you cease to exist tomorrow, there is a real consequence for that choice.
This adds a weight to today that nothing else can. Today isn’t just another day on the calendar. It’s the only day you’re guaranteed. And the decisions you make in it carry eternal significance. That doesn’t mean living in panic. It means living with intention. It means recognizing that the moment you’re in right now is the only moment you can actually act in, love in, obey in, and trust God in.
For leaders, this reality should sharpen everything. The conversation you’ve been putting off? Today. The relationship you’ve been meaning to invest in? Today. The surrender you’ve been delaying? Today. The obedience you’ve been negotiating? Today. Not because tomorrow might not come, though that’s true. But because today is where God is meeting you. Today is where His grace is sufficient. Today is where His mercies are new. And today is where your faithfulness actually matters.
If you have trusted your life to Jesus, then you have access to all the promises in the Bible, today. You get to live out passages like Psalm 118:24, where today is the day the Lord has made. Like Matthew 6:34, where today’s grace is enough for today’s trouble. Like Zephaniah 3:17, where God is rejoicing over you with singing right now, not yesterday, not tomorrow, now. Like Jeremiah 29:11–12, where God’s plans for you are already in motion and available to you the moment you call on Him.
All of those promises are present tense. They’re today promises. And they’re yours right now.
Next Steps for the Leader Who Needs to Live in Today
Catch yourself doing the wrong math. This week, pay attention to the moments when you’re calculating today based on yesterday’s failures or tomorrow’s fears. When you notice it, stop and ask: “What is God actually putting in front of me right now? Not what went wrong before. Not what might go wrong next. What is here, today, that requires my faithfulness?”
Release yesterday’s script. If you’ve been leading from a past failure, a past hurt, or a past season that no longer defines you, today is the day to release it. Not pretend it didn’t happen. But refuse to let it write today’s story. Your past shaped you. It does not determine you. God’s mercies are new this morning, which means today gets a fresh page.
Stop borrowing tomorrow’s trouble. Jesus said sufficient for the day is its own trouble. If you’ve been carrying the anxiety of next week, next month, or next year into today’s decisions, set it down. Plan wisely, but live presently. The grace you need for tomorrow will be there tomorrow. The grace you need for today is here now. Don’t waste today’s grace on tomorrow’s worry.
Do the one thing today that you’ve been postponing. You know what it is. The conversation. The decision. The act of obedience. The surrender. Stop waiting for the perfect moment, because the perfect moment is the one you’re in. Today is the favorable time. Today is the day of salvation. Whatever God has been pressing on your heart, today is the day to respond.
Let today be today, all by itself. That’s the simplest and most profound next step of all. Stop loading today with the weight of every yesterday and every tomorrow. Let today be what it is: one day. The day the Lord has made. A day with its own challenges, its own grace, its own opportunities, and its own encounter with the living God. Strive to let today be today, all by itself.
So much to say about living life today. Whatever the Lord continues to speak to your heart concerning this, receive it now. Not later. Not eventually. Now.
Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day.