As life has unfolded in recent years, I have frequently asked The Lord, “Where are we going?”
I know I am with Him, but like a weary travel worn child, I want to ask, “Are we there yet?”
Each time He has said, “We are here. I am with you.”
Here? Where is here? Few of us live “here” in time.
We go back to the past in our thoughts. We glamorize the “good old days,” hanging on to our best memories that make today seem “bad” in comparison.
Satan laughs. He loves to see us feeling deprived.
We go back to the past and review our past mistakes. We wonder how we could have been so clueless.
We come up with all kinds of self condemning labels … either the ones we made up or the ones we believed when others labeled us.
When we take a break from blaming ourselves, satan licks our wounds and says, “Hey, it wasn’t really your fault. It was them”
Satan laughs again while you think of all the people you blame for life’s missteps. He makes it hard to go back down that road to the past without seeing the faces you really would rather forget.
Sometimes we bring the past into trying to predict the future. We still believe the negative labels of the past. We believe satan’s lie that we will never change.
We take the wounds from the past and are constantly on guard in the future to try to keep from ever being hurt again. We call them lessons learned. But in reality those thoughts are rooted in fear.
When bad things happen, we already have a data base of who to blame. We apply satan’s lies to other people too. We believe they will never change.
And satan has one last joy stealer. We are afraid of change. If we are miserable, satan whispers, “It will always be this way.”
If we are happy, he whispers, “It won’t always be this way.”
Between the past and the future stands the present, aptly named as a gift. To live in the present is to let go of all the pain and regrets of the past and stop worrying about a future we cannot control.
David said, ‘This is the day The Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
Psalm 118:24
Paul said, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
Jesus said,
“Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time!”
Matthew 6:34
It is impossible to live anywhere but the present. NOW actually means “No Other Way.” Enjoy The Gift of this present moment!
