Life has a way of pulling us in two directions at once.
Yesterday calls with regret, memories, trauma, and “what ifs.” Tomorrow calls with anxiety, calendars, deadlines, responsibilities, and fear of what might happen next. And somewhere between those two thieves, many of us lose the gift God has actually placed in our hands: today.
In What’s Now?, Pastor Dyral Hargrove brings a timely word from Matthew 6:25–33 about anxiety, time, purpose, and the call of Jesus to seek first the kingdom of God. This message reminds us that we were not created to live trapped in yesterday or consumed by tomorrow. We were created to walk with God right here, right now.
For families in Garland, TX, and surrounding communities like Murphy, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett, and Wylie, this is a needed reminder: the kingdom of God is not only about what is coming someday. It is about how we live faithfully today.
The Trap of What’s Next
Jesus said, “Take no thought for your life,” not because life is unimportant, but because worry has a way of becoming a master.
We worry about schedules, money, family, work, relationships, responsibilities, and the future. We mentally rehearse problems that may never happen. We lose sleep over things God never asked us to carry. We rush from one task to the next and call it productivity, while our souls quietly grow tired.
The problem is not planning. The problem is when “what’s next?” becomes louder than “what is God asking of me now?”
Jesus gives us the priority that reorders everything:
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
That means kingdom first. Not fear first. Not schedule first. Not regret first. Not ambition first. Kingdom first.
God Designed Us to Live in the Present
The past cannot be rewritten, and the future cannot be controlled. But today can be surrendered.
Pastor Dyral reminded us that we cannot smell yesterday’s roses, and we cannot enjoy tomorrow’s flowers before they bloom. What we have is today. The people in front of us today. The opportunities God gives us today. The grace available today.
The Present Is Where Obedience Happens
You cannot obey God yesterday. You cannot obey God tomorrow yet. The only place obedience can happen is now.
That is why the enemy works so hard to distract us from the present. If he can keep us buried in regret or overwhelmed by anxiety, he can cause us to miss the people, moments, and assignments God has placed right in front of us.
There are hurting people around us. There are family members who need love. There are neighbors who need hope. There are coworkers who need someone to reflect Jesus. But if we are consumed with yesterday and tomorrow, we may miss today’s harvest.
Don’t Let the Past Keep Calling You Back
Every person has a past. Some carry regret. Some carry trauma. Some carry old failures. Some carry memories of better days and quietly resent the season they are in now.
But living in the past keeps us from receiving what God is doing in the present.
Elijah experienced this after Mount Carmel. He had just witnessed one of the greatest victories in Scripture, yet soon after, he found himself isolated, overwhelmed, and asking God to take his life. His focus shifted inward. Me. My problems. My fear. My exhaustion.
That is what isolation does. It removes us from voices of clarity and surrounds us with only our own thoughts.
But God met Elijah there. He did not abandon him in the cave. He called him back into purpose.
God still does that. He calls us out of isolation and back into relationship with Him, fellowship with others, and purpose in the kingdom.
Don’t Let Tomorrow Steal Today
Worry about tomorrow can feel responsible, but Jesus calls us to something deeper than worry. He calls us to trust.
So much of what we worry about never happens. And even when hard things do come, worry does not give us strength to endure them. Grace does.
Tomorrow belongs to God. Today belongs to obedience.
That does not mean we ignore responsibilities. It means we stop letting tomorrow become an idol. We stop trying to play God with outcomes we cannot control.
The question is not, “What’s next?”
The better question is, “What’s now?”
What is God asking of me now?
Who needs my love now?
What needs to be surrendered now?
What is kingdom first now?
The Daily Grind Can Still Be the Will of God
Sometimes the “now” does not feel exciting. Sometimes it looks like the same routine, the same prayers, the same responsibilities, the same work, the same family rhythms, and the same quiet faithfulness.
But that does not mean God is absent.
The will of God is not always dramatic. Sometimes it is daily.
Getting up again. Praying again. Loving again. Serving again. Forgiving again. Showing up again. Choosing faith again.
The kingdom is often built through ordinary obedience repeated over time.
Seek First the Kingdom
Matthew 6:33 is not just a comforting verse. It is a call to realignment.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”
First means first.
Before anxiety.
Before ambition.
Before fear.
Before control.
Before yesterday’s regret.
Before tomorrow’s pressure.
The kingdom comes first.
For those across Dallas County, Collin County, and Rockwall County who are trying to follow Jesus in a busy and anxious world, this message is simple but powerful: give God your now.
Give Him your time.
Give Him your thoughts.
Give Him your family.
Give Him your plans.
Give Him your future.
Give Him your past.
Give Him today.
A Call to Live Fully Awake
We live in a hurting world. People around us are carrying more than we realize. Some are grieving. Some are afraid. Some are spiritually dying. Some are waiting for someone to notice, love, invite, encourage, or pray.
We cannot afford to be so distracted by yesterday and tomorrow that we miss the people God has placed before us today.
So maybe the prayer is simple:
Lord, search me.
Help me release what is behind me.
Help me trust You with what is ahead of me.
Help me live faithfully in what is now.
Because when we seek first the kingdom, everything else finds its proper place.
