Dwelling on the Future

Tonight as I lay in bed with an aching body and a pounding head, my mind begins to wonder. In three months from now I will begin nursing school. Ahh the mixed emotions are almost overbearing at times. What if I don't make it? What if I realize I actually don't like nursing? What if, what if. Why do we base our lives so much on those two words? Normally when we are using those two words we are often talking about the past or the future. We think about the things we could have or should have done. We think about the things that might happen. This past month I have been dwelling on those two words way to much. What if I can't do it? What if I don't have enough money to pay for all my bills while I'm in school? What if I lose that person? What if I never find a place to fit in or belong? What if I always feel like a stranger? This morning in my devotions I was reading a devotional book by Joni Eareckson Tada and she was talking about how we dwell too much on the future. We are always preparing for the future. We tend to look at today as a day of training. A day of preparing us for the future. Think of the things you did today. Most likely you started off your day with a list in your mind and a goal for what you wanted to have done by the end of the day. This is how we live our life. We look at each day as part of the process to reach our goal or future. But then Joni said something in the book that make me stop in my tracks. She said that what we call the process God calls the end. To God, our future is right now. He wants us to live in this moment! The things we do today, the conversations we have today are the most critical in our life. We need to learn to embrace today and live in each moment. I need to stop dwelling on the future and start embracing where I am today and what I am doing today.  How often have I focused on the future and missed critical opportunities that were right in front of me that very moment. Today is our future. We aren't promised future or tomorrow so lets make each day count. Embrace His presence because He doesn't just offer it in the future, He offers it today and right now!

"This moment is the future for which you've been preparing!" -Joni Eareckson Tada

"What you call preparation, God calls the end. And if you have a further end in view, then perhaps you are not paying sufficient attention to the immediate present."    -Oswald Chambers

Contentment: Philippians 4:11

With the New Year here, my mind has been filled with thoughts about where I want to be in life next year at this time and the person I want to be. Lately I have been struggling with being content with where God has me in life. Since I’m in college I can’t just pack my clothes and decide to go away. I can’t say yes, I will commit to serving the Lord over in that country. Since I’m in college I have to say yes, Lord, I will serve you right where I am at. But so often for me that doesn't seem like enough! I often find myself longing to be that person that is going on the mission fields or putting their time into a ministry at home. But since the New Year and thinking about the person I am and the person I want to be I have discovered that I need to learn to be content with where God has me in my life right now.

So let’s address the word contentment. The definition of contentment is, “a state of happiness and satisfaction”. When we are constantly thinking about the things we don’t have, the person we can’t be, the friends we don’t have, we become very unhappy and very unsatisfied people.

So what does contentment mean for a Christian? Philippians 4:11 talks about being content in whatever situation you are in. In Philippians, Paul knew how to be content. His secret was to draw strength from the Lord. When there isn't enough money, rely on God’s promise to supply all your needs. When you feel alone and you long for that one person, draw your strength from the Lord and trust Him that He knows what is best for you. When you want things to be different in your life and you wish you could be like that woman or man across the room that is obviously making a difference in the lives of many, trust God that right now you are where He wants you. I believe that once I become content with where God has me in life that I will become a happier person and I believe that my relationship with the Lord will blossom. The closer I am to the Lord the easier it will be to be content with every situation in life.

So that said, my word for 2015 is contentment. I want to face each day with contentment and when I long for more I want to come into the habit of stopping and asking God to remove that desire to replace it with contentment.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned that whatsoever state I am, therwith to be content.” Philippians 4:11