"Stop Coloring Tomorrow: Embrace God's Plan"

Hey everyone, welcome to Dear Yahweh, and here we're just unpacking biblical truths, I'm sharing personal experiences, and I'm diving into real-life testimonies of faith.

Together we're going to explore how God's Word guides us through every season of our lives, helping us grow, heal, and also walk boldly in his love. Maybe this is exactly what you need. Real talk, real faith, and a whole lot of Jesus. Hey family, welcome back to Dear Yahweh, where we think differently so we can live differently. Of course, this is your host, Ashley Crystal. and today we're going to be talking about something that hit me really hard in the heart the other day.

I was sitting with some girlfriends of mine and I will tell you the conversation, went in a direction I was not expecting it to go. So I'm just going to jump right into it and I just want to give you fair warning. You're going to want to grab your Bible and you're going to want grab a notebook because I'm going to be dropping some stuff in here. Okay. So let's go.

The other day I was sitting talking to two of my girlfriends and one of them was just, you know, asking me like how I've been and what's been going on with me and everything. Cause we hadn't seen each other in over, Oh my gosh, at least 12 years. I want to say it's been some time. And, you know, I was telling her later that day I was going to be going to see my mom for the first time since my dad had passed away.

And she had said something so simple to me because while I was discussing this upcoming trip, I kept talking in a space of anticipating things to be a certain way and seeing things being a certain way. And she just simply said to me, don't color moments that have not happened yet. And honestly, that statement held more weight than I think any of us probably could have thought, because it literally was like a spotlight in a dark room for me.

And honestly, I'm just going to unpack it with you guys, but from a biblical perspective, because at the end of the day, this is a podcast about faith, about encouragement, about growth. And I can't come on here with opinion, opinion, opinion and feeling and feeling and feeling and not giving you the truth of God's word. So, yeah, like, you know, again, you guys know that this is something that we

face, you know, on a day to day basis. I think we all have experienced what I'm about to talk about. And we're going to go into Ecclesiastes 3.

OK. okay so again if you're one of those people that's an overthinker over plans or even tries to emotionally brace yourself for impact before a moment even arrives this episode is 100 for you and I invite you to send this to whoever needs to hear it so again here's the backstory y'all so you know, If you've been following this podcast, if you know me in real life or even come across one of my posts or stories on social media, then, you know, I lost my dad almost seven months ago.

And I was telling my homegirl, you know, how I was preparing for Florida. And, you know, this would be my first time going there since my dad has passed. And I would be spending time with my mom for Mother's Day. And the whole time I literally kept talking about, I kept talking about and thinking everything other than excitement, peace, and just the calm anticipation of seeing my mom.

Instead, I found myself literally emotionally spiraling about how hard it was going to be, how sad I'd feel, the tears me and my mom were going to shed, how hard it would be to look through the things that my dad had knowing that he would not be there. And listen, at the end of the day, those feelings are absolutely valid because I lost my dad and my mom lost her husband, but there's always going to be an ache that comes with that.

However, I was just like so caught up in that moment that I couldn't see like anything else, any other outcome. And, you know, being that this would be my mom's first Mother's Day without my dad, I just kept feeling like, oh gosh, this is going to be super, super hard. And I think all first times of certain things after a person passed is going to be difficult. So it's like, I wanted to be there with her and just, I don't know, I just wanted to be there with her.

And my mind just kept thinking about all the negative stuff. But when Bianca literally said to me, She stopped me and she said she like she didn't say the things that you think someone says she didn't say, oh, that's going to be hard or anything. She literally said, Ashley, don't color in moments that haven't happened yet or something along the lines of that. But. It was just profound and it made my spirit get quiet. And again, I immediately thought about Ecclesiastes 3.

And yeah, so I just want to give you guys time. Grab your Bibles, grab your notebooks. Let's take some notes because I'm about to break the scripture down. And y'all know I'm not a person that writes stuff down when I get on this podcast, but I had to write this out because I really wanted to make sure that everything hit the way it was supposed to hit. I need every word to get just engraved in your mind and on that notepad so that you can take this and really study it for yourself, okay?

So we're going to look at Ecclesiastes 3, 1 through 14.

And again, I'm going to break it down as we go, verse by verse. So verse 1 says, there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the heavens.

Reading this this just means that everything has its place your joy your grief your transitions your growth nothing is random with God even the moments you didn't want they all have purpose under heaven verse two through eight a time to be born a time to die a time to plant a time to uproot, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to tear down, a time to build, a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance, a time to scatter stones, a time to gather them, a time to embrace,

and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search, and a time to give up, a time to keep, a time to throw away, a time to tear, a time to mend, a time to be silent, and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time to war, and a time for peace.

That's a full picture of life right there. Every emotional experience, every gain, every loss, God knew we'd need time for all of it. Not just the good, not just the glory-filled mountaintops, but the messy and the broken and the in-betweens. But I want y'all to realize this. There is no mention of a time to assume, a time to overthink, a time to predict outcomes, a time to emotionally spiral before something even happens. You know why?

Because God never asked us to write the future. He asked us to trust the author. We weren't created to fill in the blanks of moments we haven't stepped into. We weren't designed to color in the pages of a day God hasn't even handed us yet. God didn't even give us crayons for tomorrow. He gave us peace for today. Verse 9 and 10. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden of God has laid on the human race.

This verse is a lot because it's like the burden isn't just a physical work. It's mental. It's emotional. It's the burden we carry when we try to do God's job by worrying about tomorrow. It's when we try to predict how we feel, how we'll do, how it will unfold. And that's just exhausting. But thank God we don't have to live that way. Verse 11. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Yet no one can fathom what God has done. That means you don't have to figure it out. You don't have to brace for what might go wrong and you don't have to imagine the worst just to feel emotionally prepared. God has already gone ahead of you. He knows how it ends. He knows what will actually happen. And if you trust him, you don't have to predict it. You can simply show up in the moment knowing that he is already there.

Verse 12 to 13. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live, that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil. This is the gift of God. God wants you to live in the present, not the projections. He wants you to find joy, peace, and satisfaction, not from control, but from surrender. This moment, this day, this breath, this is your gift.

Verse 14, I know that everything God does will endure forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. That means his plans are unshakable. Can you imagine having a father that has plans for you that are set in stone and nothing will get in the way of those plans?

You may be detoured you may go down the wrong road but eventually when you make multiple left turns you end up going the right way you don't have to manipulate the you don't have to manipulate, the pants guys you don't have to alter them with worry he's God and he doesn't you know he doesn't need you to do anything. So he handles it. So what does all of that mean for you guys and for me, for us today?

It means that we need to stop trying to emotionally color in tomorrow like we know what shade it's going to be. It means we need to stop assuming sadness when God might have joy planned. It means let go of the burden of being prepared for pain. Instead, we become present with peace because you don't know how the next moment will unfold, but God does. And he's already in it, just like he's here with us right now.

So I say all this to say when I was imagining my trip to Florida I wasn't just planning I was painting I was already assigning colors of grief to the canvas that God hadn't even revealed to me and let's be honest that wasn't me surrendering that was fear that was worry that was that was a lot of things that I didn't even realize I was doing until my friend said that one statement to me. And you want to know what God spoke to me while I was on the plane going to Florida?

Ashley, you're bracing for pain that hasn't arrived. But what if I have joy for you there? What if I have laughter? What if I have healing waiting in that space? We can't keep assuming that every memory will break us. Some memories may restore us. Some places we thought would crush us, God uses for comfort. And this is so true because I experienced it when I went to New York the first time after moving away. I was so afraid of being in New York because I was like, oh,

what if something happens? Or what if I see someone I don't want to see? And it turned out to be such a blessing in disguise. But that's why in psalm 46 10 god says be still and know that i am god be still in your thoughts be still in your emotions surrender your what ifs and stop coloring the moment just let him write it so i want you to pause right now and just breathe what future moment have you already colored with anxiety?

What upcoming conversation have you already pointed or painted with rejection? What trip, event, or relationship have you decided will end badly because who knows, you know, especially if it hasn't begun. I want you to release that. Give God back the brush. He's the artist and you're the canvas. If you're listening to this and you're someone who braces before every unknown moment, I get it. I truly, truly get it. But the Lord is teaching us a better way, a still way.

So here's your reminder. Don't color in what hasn't been handed to you. Don't borrow sadness from a day you haven't walked into. And don't forget that God meets us even when we are off balance. He's not waiting for you to be perfect. He's waiting for you to surrender.

And I just want to pray with you guys. Father God, in the name of Jesus, I just want to thank you for your timing. Thank you for the moments that we don't have to color ourselves. We surrender our imagined fears, our emotional predictions, and the anxiety we've carried about things that haven't even come. You are a God of order, peace, and perfect timing. Help us to trust you in every season, even the ones that feel uncertain.

Teach us to walk into each moment with open hands and open hearts and a surrendered spirit. Cover us. Protect us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If this episode has blessed you, I want to encourage you to sit with Ecclesiastes 3 this week. Read it slowly and let it minister to your heart. and ask God, what have I been trying to paint that you haven't even called me to touch yet? So until next time, stay grounded in your word, stay surrendered in your walk,

and keep listening to his voice. Bye, y'all.

Thanks for joining me today on dear Yahweh I hope this episode has blessed you and given you something to reflect on as you continue your walk with Jesus if you've enjoyed this episode please be sure to subscribe leave a comment or two and then share it with someone that needs encouragement, And remember, you can always visit my website, crystalclearfaith.com, where you can purchase journals, sign up for mentorship, as well as prayer sessions with me one-on-one.

Until next time, stay rooted in his word and never forget, I love you, but Jesus loves you more.