Future Me

"Don't be afraid of tomorrow, for God has already been there."
Author Unknown

I received an e-mail today from myself. If you know me, this actually isn’t something that should be too surprising. This e-mail, however, was from my past self. To be specific, it was from myself from July 16, 2009. I’ll share with you what the e-mail said in just a moment. Let me give you some background about my life a year ago.

In previous posts I had mentioned an article where Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California said that he used to believe his life was a series of hills and valleys. Now, he believes it’s more like “two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.”

My bad thing last year was my old job. It was corporate radio. It was the kind of work environment that was fueled by fear and offered zero support. I wasn’t alone. If you took a random survey, you’d find an unusually high level of paranoia and general unhappiness amongst other staffers. In two years I watched everyone around me get fired, from the general manager to virtually every air-staff member around me. Often, new management (in any job) wants to bring in their own people. Since the station was faltering in the ratings, it was pretty much a matter of time that I’d be next to be let go. It made perfect sense. Except It never happened. I was never fired. Way to go God! Right?

As I look back now. I wasted sooooooo much time worrying about tomorrow. My problem wasn’t the situation (albeit not great) and people at the job. It was my reaction to those people and situations. What if I trusted God instead of living in fear and wondering, “Is this the day?”

Okay back to the e-mail. I was talking with my show partner at the time about a website called FutureMe.org. This website would email you on any date you’d like in the future. How cool! Here is my email…

“Dear Future Me,

Remember all the stuff you were worried about? It didn't do you any good. Because God took care of you right? You are awesome...be nice to yourself today.”

Ha! "Past me" was right. I just didn’t believe him at the time. A year later, I’m now in a WAY BETTER job at SHINE-FM. We have great people, great support, and an amazing ministry.

In Philippians 4:6 the Bible says, "Don't worry about ANYTHING; instead, PRAY about EVERYTHING. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

Right now, we are having trouble selling our home as are many Americans. On some days, I wonder if this will ever end. I think perhaps I should pray and then send an e-mail to Future Me. Check out FutureMe.org if you have the chance.

Jack