God is so good.
In the last several months I’ve been accepted to and started planning for the World Race, was hired for my dream summer internship, graduated college, and that’s just the top of the list. Now, all of this is great, but I often find myself looking either ahead to the future and all that’s to come (so excited for next year) or thinking about all the amazing times that I’ve had these past several years at school, and I can completely forget about the moment at hand.
While planning for the future or remembering the past have their parts, we need to remember to love where we’re at each and every day. The past was great, but it’s already happened. The future is exciting, but it has yet to come. The present though, that is right in front of us. What we need to do is take the time to stop and enjoy the every day moments that God gives us.
A common story that many people know is when Jesus let the little children come to Him (Mark 10:13-16). He says that to receive the kingdom of God, we must do so as a little child. Part of this is doing so in the present. Little children think of neither the past or the future. Their concern is on the present and they seek to enjoy and make the most of each moment. That I believe, is how we are intended to live every day; walking by faith and trusting God with both our past and future while focusing on the present.
I think a passage by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow puts it well:
“In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven Cattle! Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead!”
As it says in Matthew 6:33-34, let’s seek first God’s kingdom, being content in the moment and loving those around us. Stay in the present and watch God work.
