Have you ever thought about your future? Maybe what you will do next week, or next month or maybe even next year? Sometimes as I’m sure you know, we can get so caught up in the future that we miss living in the here and now.
For me, this was prevalent specifically this month. We had ministry with our teams, an Awakening conference, ministry again with our teams, and then finally Parent Vision Trip (where parents come to visit and do ministry with racers). There was a lot going on, and it seemed to be all packed into one month.
During Parent Vision Trip though, I learned more about this concept of living in the here and now. There were 8 people (including myself) that did not have parents come to this trip. Together, we were a team for a few days and we worked with an organization that is focused on freeing the oppressed. To protect the organization, I will not disclose the name.
The organization goes on hikes into countries that are not well traveled. One moto they have is “Easy Way, Hard Way,” in which case, they always choose the hard way. They say it is the way that produces most growth.
Every Friday, they have a scheduled hike up a mountain to the highest point in Chiang Mai, Thailand before ministry begins. This past Friday, my team was invited to join. (I decided that getting up at 6 am to get ready to hike up a mountain would be a great idea and volunteered to go!)
In front of me was a woman with a baby on her back. She kept up a steady pace, step after step on this constant incline up a mountain. In that moment, I contemplated what I was doing with my life.
Ever been there?
I just barely spoke, concentrating on every step I took, matching every breath I inhaled. “I hope no one asks me a question, I can’t breathe” were my thoughts.
After 20 minutes into the hike, drops of sweat were running down my eyebrows, nose, and chin. “How much longer?” I thought. The woman ahead said, “We are about ? of the way up.”
WHAT.
“Okay, I can do this, I CAN do this,” I thought.
As I continued to follow her path, I made sure I was careful on where to place my foot. Every so often I would grab on to a tree nearby for safety and stability. Then I realized we were about 15 minutes from the top. My heart began to pound so loudly that I could feel and hear every beat.
Meanwhile, I was trying to concentrate on breathing and encouraging myself to keep going…
In through your nose, out through your mouth.
Heart, pleaseeee don’t explode on me, we’re almost there!
Then, finally, I we made it! We didn’t spend too much time lingering before we began to hike back down. “Well, now I can talk!” I thought. “This is soooo much easier than hiking up!”
I tripped a few times on the way down but one of the organization members started the conversation of,
“Do you know what you will do after the race?”
“I’m not sure, I haven’t gotten a word from the Lord yet,” I said. He started sharing how he and his wife ended up in a crazy journey with the Lord, and the Lord brought them to Thailand. He said it’s like the beauty of the forest. If you look upward long enough though, you may lose you footing and bust it.
Wow.
If you look too far ahead you’re going to trip and fall.
It reminded me of Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Have you ever gotten caught up in wondering what will happen in the future? The beauty of what it could potentially look like? I definitely did as I was hiking up the mountain. I realized though that if we get caught up in the future, then we can trip and fall, missing out on the now.
Jesus is our lamp, and with a lamp, you can only see a few feet ahead of you; you can’t see far down the path, but you have to trust that the Lord will guide you down your path.
Together, let’s cherish the now and not get caught up in the future. Knowing that by focusing on the here and now we can reveal Kingdom right in front of us. From that, we can trust that He will guide our path for our best future to come.
