Past<PRESENT>Future
Some live in the past, using the time given to them to replicate the “best” times of their life. Others live in the future, placing imaginary dates on a calendar that only God’s eyes have seen. Sadly, both of these extremes seem apparent in my life every now and again, and they we especially apparent when I was in Nepal
Rooftop view in Gujudara.
During Nepal I found myself at the halfway point on the race. I could look back to how my life was, miss things from home, hold onto regrets of opportunities passed, and cling to old ways. I also found myself pondering the future excessively, spending MUCH too much of some days trying to figure out what the heck I’m going to do when I get home. I felt I was caught in the worst game of monkey-in-the-middle EVER, and there was no hope of getting the ball that was mockingly being tossed over my head between my past and future.
In my confusion pondering, I think god gave me some pretty cool answers, because that’s what He does. Yes, of course it is to live presently, as many of you have guessed and may very well know, but should we live in a way where the past and present are irrelevant to us NOW? I think it is possible to live presently, while simultaneously reaping the benefits of our past and future.
Think of people who died in the name of Jesus, martyrs. Sadly, they died without seeing the second coming of Christ or the entire fulfillment of Gods kingdom reigning on Earth. Does this mean that their efforts were in vain? NO! Their present moments were influenced and even enriched by the future hope they had in their eyes, whether it actually came about or not in their time. The future that they believed in, although not yet present, welled up a passion in them so strong that they DIED for it. The future they desired TOMORROW gave them passion for TODAY. Do I let the future hope of an eternity with God fill me with joy in this present moment? Or do I just let it do its thing, and when it comes, it comes? Or do I let the joy of eternal rest and fulfillment maximize and enrich every moment I have today? As Christians, we ought to live presently in the future glory of the Lord. We should live by faith, trusting in His sovereignty and that things unseen and only hoped for are a pending REALITY.
What of our past? Is there anything worth scrutinizing and re-living right now, at the cost of wasting the time we are given today? No… But the past will have been in vain and will be repeated if we do not carry with us the wisdom of each and every experience. Who wants to hear the same lesson all throughout life without learning a single thing? *crickets* Instead, praise God for the redemption He brings to our past! When we acknowledge the darkness of our past, we begin to see the brightness of our future! What about good memories, not just the bad? I think we all know a few people, myself included, who have their pride and glory moments stashed away in story, waiting to tell it in an effort to validate the way their life turned out today. We get so caught up in the past and those moments that we actually stop progressing forward! We get so comfortable with what we know, we are afraid to venture into the unknown! We are even insecure at times, afraid that we could never do anything as magnificent as what we have already done, so we cop-out, trying to go out as a legend. Let us trust that God will not waste a single moment of our past, using every experience to further our understanding of him, and turning every seed planted into a fruit-bearing tree in our life today.
Who wants to merely imagine being someone far off into the future living zealously for Christ, instead of becoming that person God has called you and equipped you to be today? Who wants to be held back by your past, by things you will never live down, or in efforts to relive your greatest moments in fear that the future holds nothing good for you?
My prayer is that the wealth, enrichment, and wisdom of yesterday’s redeemed trials and tomorrow’s hope of an eternity spent with God AMPLIFY the life God has for us today.
Rooftop view in Gujudara.
During Nepal I found myself at the halfway point on the race. I could look back to how my life was, miss things from home, hold onto regrets of opportunities passed, and cling to old ways. I also found myself pondering the future excessively, spending MUCH too much of some days trying to figure out what the heck I’m going to do when I get home. I felt I was caught in the worst game of monkey-in-the-middle EVER, and there was no hope of getting the ball that was mockingly being tossed over my head between my past and future.
In my confusion pondering, I think god gave me some pretty cool answers, because that’s what He does. Yes, of course it is to live presently, as many of you have guessed and may very well know, but should we live in a way where the past and present are irrelevant to us NOW? I think it is possible to live presently, while simultaneously reaping the benefits of our past and future.
Think of people who died in the name of Jesus, martyrs. Sadly, they died without seeing the second coming of Christ or the entire fulfillment of Gods kingdom reigning on Earth. Does this mean that their efforts were in vain? NO! Their present moments were influenced and even enriched by the future hope they had in their eyes, whether it actually came about or not in their time. The future that they believed in, although not yet present, welled up a passion in them so strong that they DIED for it. The future they desired TOMORROW gave them passion for TODAY. Do I let the future hope of an eternity with God fill me with joy in this present moment? Or do I just let it do its thing, and when it comes, it comes? Or do I let the joy of eternal rest and fulfillment maximize and enrich every moment I have today? As Christians, we ought to live presently in the future glory of the Lord. We should live by faith, trusting in His sovereignty and that things unseen and only hoped for are a pending REALITY.
What of our past? Is there anything worth scrutinizing and re-living right now, at the cost of wasting the time we are given today? No… But the past will have been in vain and will be repeated if we do not carry with us the wisdom of each and every experience. Who wants to hear the same lesson all throughout life without learning a single thing? *crickets* Instead, praise God for the redemption He brings to our past! When we acknowledge the darkness of our past, we begin to see the brightness of our future! What about good memories, not just the bad? I think we all know a few people, myself included, who have their pride and glory moments stashed away in story, waiting to tell it in an effort to validate the way their life turned out today. We get so caught up in the past and those moments that we actually stop progressing forward! We get so comfortable with what we know, we are afraid to venture into the unknown! We are even insecure at times, afraid that we could never do anything as magnificent as what we have already done, so we cop-out, trying to go out as a legend. Let us trust that God will not waste a single moment of our past, using every experience to further our understanding of him, and turning every seed planted into a fruit-bearing tree in our life today.
Who wants to merely imagine being someone far off into the future living zealously for Christ, instead of becoming that person God has called you and equipped you to be today? Who wants to be held back by your past, by things you will never live down, or in efforts to relive your greatest moments in fear that the future holds nothing good for you?
My prayer is that the wealth, enrichment, and wisdom of yesterday’s redeemed trials and tomorrow’s hope of an eternity spent with God AMPLIFY the life God has for us today.
