Editor’s note: We conclude our series exploring each of the steps of the Examen. We’re using the Examen version from Jim Manney’s book, A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer. Find the full series here.
5. Look toward the day to come.
In the last step of the Examen, we look toward the day to come. This is such a gracious step.
We’ve already spent the last four steps of the Examen looking at our day through God’s eyes. We’ve seen its blessings and where we have failed to do what we ought to have.
And now, we look forward to the day to come, knowing God has been faithful—and will be faithful to us. We can move forward with confidence, knowing his grace is sufficient for all the day holds.
As I look at my schedule ahead, I remember meetings, hard conversations, or travel on the calendar. A little surge of anxiety hits me as I wonder how I will navigate all ahead of me. But then, I am reminded how God has taken care of me thus far.
When my children were toddlers, I had a favorite book I liked to read to them before bed called, All in a Day. It was simple, as books for children usually are, telling the story of a little boy’s day with his mother and father. They planted seeds, worked, played, and rested. Trials could come, but it was how you looked at the situation that was most important. It could be an opportunity; it could teach you something new.
Each day was all its own. Each day was enough. It reminded me of the Scripture passage, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)
My sons loved the calming language of that book, and frankly, I did too. It reminded me that each day, running around with those two toddler boys, working, playing, and sometimes napping with them, was all holy work. We just have one day at a time. It’s all we ever have. The next day is not promised, so when it does come, a new day brings hope.
So many Scriptures about the future are paired with the word, “hope.” In the Book of Jeremiah, God says he has plans for the people of Israel, to give them “a future with hope.” (29:11) In Proverbs we read, “Surely there is a future, / and your hope will not be cut off.” (23:18) And in Matthew, Jesus asks, “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” (6:27)
After praying the Examen and remembering these truths from Scripture, I do not grieve over the activities of the day to come. I have spent this time with God and have seen where he has been faithful in this one day. I know he is faithful. I simply need to surrender the next day to him.
Where do I need you, Lord, in the day to come? I pray. He has shown me through the Examen where he has been throughout this past day. In the day to come, I need God in every waking moment—and his grace is sufficient for all the day will bring.
