Living in the now has become almost a catch-phrase for our era as so often we forget about the present and live in the future or the past. We struggle with constantly looking at our cell phones and wondering what we are missing and how we will have time for it all. The busyness can consume us as we fight for jobs, family and all the other things that we must juggle on a daily basis.
We worry constantly about the future and what other disasters are headed our way. Or we might live in the past, grieving and mourning the losses that have come before. I know that I have struggled with worry when it comes to the future and what it holds for my child and myself. I want to know what lies around the next corner so that I can “prepare” myself for it.
This is a laughable idea, isn’t it? God does not prepare us before anything, but rather prepares us exactly when we need it.
A friend recently told me about a picture God had given her for walking in the present. The past was completely black behind her, as the past is forgotten and we cannot live back there. The future was like a grey misty tunnel, and she could not see what lay there. She was standing in the present, which was a beautiful lush oasis and God was holding her hand. She couldn’t move back or forward because she was holding His hand, and had to stay in step with Him. He held her in peace when she chose to stay in that present moment and just walk with Him.
It is a moment-by-moment decision to focus on Jesus and walk with Him. It is so easy to get out of step and want to pull ahead or lag behind. He will be enough for just that present moment, and nothing else. We cannot hold onto the past to get us through tomorrow. It is like the manna for the Israelites in the desert. New manna had to be gathered every day.
Jesus will be enough for today. He will be enough for tomorrow as well, but not until we get to tomorrow. He will be enough to bring us out of the past and hold us in rest and peace in this moment. I want to choose this peace, rather than rushing around trying to make the most out of my day. I miss out on so much of Him when I do that. In choosing to live in the present, I am able to know Jesus in a way I cannot if I keep trying to sort life out for myself. My sorting of life out hasn’t worked very well on my own, so I’m choosing to leave that to Him and just walk with Him. In this beautiful walking together, I am able to know Him—what an amazing privilege!