In the Moment

Have you ever stopped to think how our “instant gratification society” steals our opportunities to live in the moment ?

What if at the end of our lives, we got a record of how many important interactions we missed because we were too busy looking at our phone or doing meaningless things?

I’m guilty.

Or what if instead of living in the moment, you’re too stuck living in the past? Maybe you just get so caught up dwelling on all the things you’ve done wrong rather than letting forgiveness and grace take over.

Or….maybe you spend too much time living in the future. Maybe that’s all you focus on - your future interactions, your future family, your future education. 

But what does God say? What does he say about living in the past, present, and/or future?

LIVING IN THE PAST:

Just because our past has shaped who we are now does not mean that we are defined by our past mistakes - and we definitely aren’t supposed to dwell on them. BUT just because we shouldn’t dwell on our past mistakes DOES NOT mean we should not remember them. We need to remember our past because it reminds us of how far we have come, how far reaching God’s grace and forgiveness is, and how much He loves us even through our worst times. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; all things become new. 

**We are not to forget everything, however, in the sense of being oblivious to it. In fact, there are many times God instructs us to remember.

In Deuteronomy 9 Moses tells the Israelites to “remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord.” We are encouraged to remember all God has done for us.

LIVING IN THE FUTURE:  

Time is so precious! This moment right now will never come back again! 

When we live today, we need to keep the future in mind. When we make decisions, we need to think about how they might affect our future. 

But we aren’t supposed to live IN the future or FOR the future!

We can LOOK to the future, but still live in the present. 

When we look back tomorrow on what we did today, will we be satisfied in knowing that we did what we could for the Lord?

Live today with eternity in mind, but don’t forget to live today. 

Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

LIVING IN THE PRESENT:

Mary did. Mary could have missed the Lord’s presence in her life, but she didn’t. Why? Because she trusted Him with all the things that were h=out of her control. 

The Lord longs for us to live in the moment, because it’s where he does some of His best work. Living in the moment engages us in HIs will. 

No matter where you are or who you are with in that moment - laugh with them, cry with them, listen to them, play with them, pray for them. Turn off all the noise and distractions and value the time that you have!Discipline your mind to be present!

Trust the Lord with all the impossible outcomes that are in store for you! Master living in the moment with God’s discipline. 

Love others in the moment. Live for God in the moment. 

Tik Tok

Did you know the word “Wait” is mentioned more than 100 times in the Bible?

So what does that mean? To wait? It’s not fun that’s for sure. 

We live in an “instant gratification society” where we get everything pretty much right when we want it. 

But that’s not the way God works. And waiting isn’t easy!

With God, we constantly have to wait. With our future, we constantly have to wait. 

Right now, we (my generation) are waiting to graduate. We’re waiting for college. We’re waiting for a career. We’re waiting for own own spouses and families. We’re waiting for a lot of things. 

But here’s some things we have to remember. 

*Waiting is often a setup for a movement of God in your life. 

*In the waiting is an opportunity to hear God. 

*God often accomplishes more in our waiting than in our doing. 

*God loves you enough not to give you everything you think you need. 

*God is faithful in our waiting. When you put your problems up next to God’s sovereignty, it puts everything into perspective. 

Sometimes, God is going to lead you into the desert to remind you how desperate you are for Him. He wants to show you how little control and power you have, to show you that He is enough, regardless. 

Waiting itself can often be a setback to us. We need to be seeking out God and what He is wanting us to do right here, in this very moment. Sure, it’s okay to be curious about our futures. It’s okay to wonder what God has in store for us. But we can’t let our desire for the future to overtake us to the point where we miss what God’s plan for us is today. 

We all wonder at some point what God’s plan for our future will look like, and sometimes that leaves us feeling like we are getting nowhere. We must wait and trust in God’s timing. And yes, our patience will be tested, but it will be worth it because one day God will make sense of it all. 

God is faithful in our waiting, so we must be faithful also. 

In our waiting, in the present, we must continue to serve, worship, and keep on running the race of life. 

We have to let go of the plans and the dreams that we have for our lives and allow God’s will and plan for us to take over. We can’t see what is in front of us, but we still have to trust Him. After all, He is the only one that knows what our tomorrow holds - so why would we not want what God wants for us? 

In our waiting we must remember that there’s a reason for the journey, there is purpose in the learning, and not everything in life comes easily. But God is constant. God is good. God is sovereign. And not for one single second will he forsake us. {Getting There by Steffany Gretzinger}

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Romans 5:3-5  We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Life is a Highway

I was brainstorming all day yesterday, trying to come up with blog ideas and I was getting nothing. But then God did that really cool thing that He does where he like randomly pops an idea into your brain at the most random time.

I was just sitting at a red light, at a four way intersection, patiently waiting my turn. I was watching all the other car’s lights turn green, yellow, then red. I was just like “UGH when is it going to be my turn!!!”

And then God was like “Plop. There’s your blog idea.”

Woah. Bro. God’s cool. 

Anyway, here’s what a mean. 

I’m going to refer to life like it is a road, and we are the cars. 

When you’re waiting for God to do something in your life, it’s not always easy to sit around waiting and watching while other people’s lights are turning green. It feels like your light is the only one that’s red and everyone else is getting a turn except you. But in the right timing, God will turn your light green, too. 

No ones life experiences are supposed to happen exactly at the same time. They are supposed to happen in God’s timing…And sometimes that means waiting. 

And then we’ve got the people who are always riding our tails. These cars are like the people in life that are always bugging us, discouraging us, telling us we need to go faster or do things their way. But that’s not the case!!! 

We shouldn’t listen to people that are telling us we need to live our lives a certain way or talk, dress, or act a different way. 

God has called us to be individuals, striving only to live according to His word and His truth. All we need to worry about is going God’s direction and driving God’s speed. No one else’s. 

And lastly, we’ve got the car wrecks. The crashes. The fender benders. The breaking downs. 

In life, we’ve got catastrophes. We’ve got failures. We’ve all got places where we crash and burn. 

But then we just take ourselves over to the “car-fixer-upper” (aka God :P).

We tell him all of the things that are wrong with us, and then he puts us back together again. 

It’s a pretty beautiful cycle. 

It’s a pretty beautiful life. 

And He is a very gracious, good God.