I remember when television came with a weekly schedule. If you wanted to know what was on tonight, you didn’t ask your phone. You didn’t open an app. You didn’t scroll through endless options.
You looked in the TV Guide. There it was, printed in black and white:
7:00 — The Andy Griffith Show
7:30 — The Beverly Hillbillies
8:00 — Happy Days
8:30 — Laverne & Shirley
In addition to the regularly scheduled programming, there were movies of the week and sports events. You knew what was coming.
You could plan your week’s schedule around your favorite shows, even if you only had a few channels! You knew when your favorite program would begin, and when it would end. You could look at the movies of the week, and even read a short synopsis of the plot. There was something comforting about having the schedule right there in front of you.
Of course, television has changed. And so have we.
Information – although perhaps not always accurate – is available on demand. We can check the weather (although as we found out last week, that’s not always helpful). Track a package. Look up an old friend. Find an answer to almost any question.
We like knowing and planning. Which brings us to this past week and the next. “They” are saying that by early next week, almost everyone’s power should be restored.
Almost. Early. Should. Those are three words that offer “qualified optimism.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if this were the old TV Guide?
Tuesday, August 25 — Power restored: 3:00 p.m.
In writing. Guaranteed. We could circle it with a red pen and plan accordingly.
But life doesn’t work that way. We don’t get a TV Guide for the future. We don’t know when the difficult season will end. We don’t know when the answer will come. We don’t know when the lights will come back on—literally or figuratively. And that can be frustrating.
But perhaps there’s a little theology hiding in that old TV Guide.
We can make plans without knowing everything. Jesus advised us not to worry about what tomorrow will bring, but to trust in God’s care for us today.
That’s not an invitation to stop planning. We make plans. We hope. We prepare. We anticipate what’s coming next. But we remember that God is already present in the part of the story we haven’t reached yet.
That’s good news when we’re facing a difficult season and find ourselves waiting for our lives to become “normal” again. We may not have a schedule for the future, but God isn’t surprised by it.
We may not know what next week holds, but God will be there when next week arrives. And perhaps that’s enough for today. And then for tomorrow. And each day after that.
In the meantime, we can live this day. We can laugh. We can be grateful. We can help somebody else. We can make the best of an imperfect situation. Because while we may not know when the lights will come back on, we know who will be with us when they do.
Prayer: God, I like knowing what’s coming, when it’s coming, and how long I have to wait. But life rarely gives me that kind of certainty. So teach me to trust you more. Give me patience in the waiting, and help me live fully today rather than constantly looking ahead to tomorrow. I pray that power is restored for everyone soon. I hope next week brings good news. I hope that before long this storm and its aftermath will simply become a story we tell. I don’t have the schedule. But I have you. And for today, that’s enough. Amen.
