"Future tripping" is a phrase that perfectly describes itself—mentally taking a trip into the future. In everyday slang, to be “tripping” often means being in a state of unease or disconnection from reality. And when we "take a trip," we leave the familiar behind and enter unfamiliar territory. The future is just that—unfamiliar. It's a place we’ve never actually been, except in our imagination.
So why do our minds resist staying in the present? Why do we struggle to rest where our feet are? Is it boredom? Discontent? A craving for something different? More often than not, future tripping is simply worry—good old-fashioned anxiety about “what if.”
Lately, I’ve been doing my best to shift from what if to what is. As spiritual teacher Mooji puts it: “The ‘what is’ is you—the true being, the observer of thoughts, the existence that remains still.” In contrast, the “what if” is imaginary. It's unstable. It's the restless current that pulls us away from the ground of now.
I’ll admit—future tripping has long been a familiar form of self-torture for me. There’s a strange illusion of control in imagining the future, as if by forecasting it, I can manage the outcome. But more often, I find myself rehearsing disasters that never happen or exhausting myself over outcomes I can't influence.
But here’s the truth: God is not in the “what if.” He is in the “what is.”
He meets us in the present. He walks with us in real time. And He promises grace not for our imagined tomorrows, but for the moment we’re in.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
— Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
There is real freedom in letting go of imagined futures and returning to where God already is—right here, right now. The present is where peace lives, because it's where He lives.
Prayer
Lord,
I confess that my mind often runs ahead of my faith. I worry about things that haven't happened and might never come. I play out scenarios trying to protect myself from pain, when all You ask me to do is trust You. Help me let go of the “what ifs” and rest in the “what is.” Teach me to live fully in the moment, where Your grace meets me. Anchor me in today. Walk with me here. And remind me—again and again—that You are enough for this moment, and You’ll be enough for the next.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
