When the Date on the Calendar Feels Different Than I Expected
When an important date begins to carry fear and uncertainty, it can be difficult to stay present. Psalm 31:15 reminds us that our times are in God’s hands.
Learning to place an uncertain future into God’s hands without pretending I’m not afraid.
Scripture Focus
Psalm 31:15 (NRSVUE)
“My times are in your hand.”
There is something strange about looking at a date on the calendar and realizing it no longer means what you thought it would.
My birthday is coming.
Normally, that would simply be a birthday.
This year, there is something else attached to the date.
My surgery is scheduled for that day.
I have found myself looking at the calendar differently.
I can make the practical plans. I can ask questions. I can prepare my home. I can think about what I might need afterward.
But there is another part of me that wants something I cannot have.
I want to know how everything is going to turn out.
I want to know how the surgery will go.
I want to know what recovery will be like.
I want to know how my body will respond.
I want to know what life will look like afterward.
And the truth is, I don’t know.
That uncertainty is where I want to meet God today.
Not after I have all the answers.
Here.
What Does “My Times Are in Your Hand” Mean?
Psalm 31 is a prayer from David in the midst of distress.
David isn’t writing from a place where everything has already been resolved. He is experiencing trouble and fear, yet he turns toward God rather than pretending those feelings aren’t there.
Then he says:
“My times are in your hand.”
Those words aren’t a promise that nothing painful will happen.
They aren’t a guarantee that David will receive the exact outcome he wants.
They are an expression of trust.
David recognizes that his life is not ultimately held by circumstances, fear, other people, or his own ability to control events.
His times are in God’s hand.
That distinction matters to me.
Because trusting God with my future does not mean pretending I know what the future will bring.
It means I can acknowledge what I don’t know without believing that I am facing it alone.
I Can Prepare Without Trying to Control
I have learned that there is a difference between preparing for something and trying to control it.
Preparing is practical.
I can make appointments.
I can ask questions.
I can gather what I need.
I can accept help.
I can make reasonable plans for recovery.
Those things are within my responsibility.
But eventually I reach the edge of what preparation can accomplish.
I cannot control every detail.
I cannot guarantee the outcome.
I cannot make uncertainty disappear by thinking about it one more time.
And I certainly cannot live the future before it arrives.
That last one is where I get into trouble.
My mind can take one upcoming date and turn it into dozens of imagined scenarios.
What if this happens?
What if that happens?
What will I be able to do?
How long will recovery take?
What will I need?
What will change?
Before I know it, I am living inside a future that hasn’t happened.
And today is still sitting quietly in front of me.
When Fear Wants to Borrow Tomorrow
I’ve written before about how easily I can worry about what might happen.
As my son’s wedding approached, I found myself imagining possible conflicts before anything had even happened. I was trying to prepare myself for every possibility.
But underneath that fear was something else.
I was hoping.
I wanted my family to find its way toward one another again.
That experience taught me something I don’t want to forget.
Fear is very good at borrowing tomorrow’s problems.
It takes something that might happen and makes me emotionally live through it now.
But Scripture doesn’t ask me to solve tomorrow today.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6 that worrying cannot add anything to our lives. His teaching doesn’t mean responsible planning is wrong. It reminds us that anxiety cannot give us control over the future.
There is a difference between saying:
“I need to prepare for this.”
and:
“I need to figure out everything that could possibly happen.”
One is preparation.
The other is exhaustion.
My Times Are in God’s Hand
There is something deeply comforting about the simplicity of those six words:
My times are in your hand.
Not:
My times are in my control.
Not:
My times are in my ability to predict the future.
Not:
My times are safe because I know exactly what will happen.
My times are in your hand.
God knows the days I cannot see.
He knows the parts of the story I have not reached.
He knows what I am afraid of.
He knows what I hope for.
He knows what I would choose if I could choose every detail.
And He knows that I don’t always know how to hold all of that at once.
So perhaps faith, for me, looks less like having confidence about an outcome and more like placing the outcome back into God’s hands.
Still Walking This Journey?
If you are walking through an uncertain season and need Scripture and gentle encouragement for the days when you don’t know what comes next, I’d love to have you join me.
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What I Can Do Today
I don’t need to solve the whole future.
I can ask a simpler question:
What is mine to do today?
Maybe it is making a phone call.
Maybe it is asking a question.
Maybe it is preparing something practical.
Maybe it is accepting someone’s offer to help.
Maybe it is resting.
Maybe it is praying.
Maybe it is enjoying a conversation instead of mentally leaving the room to worry about next month.
Maybe it is simply saying:
“Lord, this is the part I cannot control. I’m giving it back to You.”
That isn’t passivity.
It is recognizing the difference between responsibility and control.
I can be responsible for what God has placed in my hands without pretending that everything belongs there.
I Don’t Have to Pretend I’m Not Afraid
I think sometimes Christians feel pressure to make trust sound more certain than it really feels.
But David’s prayer in Psalm 31 doesn’t sound like someone who has no fear.
It sounds like someone who brings his fear to God.
That gives me permission to do the same.
I can say:
Lord, I’m afraid.
Lord, I don’t know what this will look like.
Lord, I wish I could see farther ahead.
Lord, I want a good outcome.
Lord, help me trust You with the outcome I cannot control.
There is no dishonesty in that prayer.
Faith doesn’t require me to deny reality.
Faith gives me somewhere to take reality.
There Is Still Today
My birthday will come.
The surgery will come.
Recovery will come.
There will be things I can prepare for and things I cannot anticipate.
But today is not surgery day.
Today is not recovery day.
Today is today.
And I don’t want to give today’s peace away to a future I haven’t entered.
There are still people to love.
There are still things to write.
There are still prayers to pray.
There are still ordinary moments.
There are still things God may want to teach me.
And there is still Christ.
So perhaps the prayer I need isn’t:
“Jesus, tell me exactly how everything is going to turn out.”
Maybe it is:
“Jesus, help me trust You with the part of my life I cannot see.”
Because my times are in His hand.
And for today, that is enough.
When You Don’t Know What Comes Next
If you are carrying an uncertain date on your own calendar, perhaps you understand this tension.
A medical appointment.
A surgery.
A difficult conversation.
A move.
A decision.
A relationship you don’t know how to navigate.
A change you didn’t choose.
A future you cannot yet picture.
You can prepare.
You can pray.
You can seek wise counsel.
You can ask for help.
And then there comes a point when you have to release what preparation cannot control.
That is not giving up.
That is trust.
Questions for Reflection
- Is there a date or event on my calendar that I have already begun emotionally living through?
- What part of this situation is actually mine to prepare for, and what part am I trying to control?
- What am I afraid might happen, and have I brought that fear honestly to God?
- What would it look like today to say, “My times are in Your hand,” and actually rest in that truth?
- What is one thing I can receive, enjoy, or attend to today rather than borrowing tomorrow’s worries?
A Prayer for the Future I Cannot See
Lord Jesus,
You know what is ahead of me even when I cannot see it.
You know the dates on my calendar.
You know the appointments, the decisions, the questions, the fears, and the things I hope will happen.
Help me prepare wisely without trying to control what belongs in Your hands.
When my mind runs ahead, bring me back gently.
When fear becomes louder than faith, remind me that I can bring my fear to You.
When I don’t know what the outcome will be, help me trust Your presence rather than demand certainty.
Give me wisdom for the things that are mine to do.
Give me humility to accept help.
Give me permission to rest when rest is needed.
And give me the grace to live the day You have placed before me instead of spending it inside a future I cannot yet enter.
“My times are in your hand.”
Lord, help me believe that today.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Continue Your Journey
If this devotional meets you in a season when fear keeps carrying your thoughts into the future, these reflections offer another place to continue.
When You Are Worried About What Might Happen
I previously explored what it means to surrender the outcome to God without giving up hope. That devotional may be especially helpful when your mind keeps rehearsing possible problems before they happen.
When God Builds Strength Before He Changes the Situation
If you are waiting for circumstances to change, this reflection explores how God can be at work within us even when the circumstances themselves have not changed. It is careful not to promise that every difficult situation will change according to our timetable.
When Chronic Pain Changes What Faithfulness Looks Like
This reflection speaks directly to the experience of living with physical limitations and discovering that faithfulness can take a different shape when our capacity changes. It also explores receiving help, resting, and releasing the expectation that we must continue at our former pace.
Click on the title to read more
A Free Resource for Finding Peace
When uncertainty makes your thoughts race ahead, a gentle return to Scripture can help you pause and remember where your attention belongs.
The Finding Peace 30-Day Scripture Reading Plan provides a simple daily way to spend time in God’s Word and return your attention to His presence when life feels unsettled.
Visit the Healing Journey with Christ Resource Library to access the free resource.
Still Walking This Journey?
Receive new Healing Journey with Christ devotionals in your inbox and access free Scripture cards, prayers, reading plans, journaling pages, and other Resource Library materials.
Let’s Stay Connected
What helps you when you are facing something you cannot control?
You don’t need to share private details. Perhaps you simply want to share a Scripture that has helped you, a prayer you are holding onto, or a reminder that God has given you in an uncertain season.
You are welcome to leave a comment or share a prayer request.
Share Your Story
Sometimes another person’s honest story is exactly what helps someone else realize they aren’t walking through their season alone.
If God has been meeting you through a season of waiting, uncertainty, illness, healing, grief, family change, or an unexpected new chapter, I would love to hear your story.
Your experience may encourage someone else who is walking through something similar.
You never need to share painful or identifying details. Share only what you are comfortable offering.