The Beautiful Truth About Now

 co-authored by special guest Naomi Thomas

The New Year is here and it has many of us thinking about the past and the future; memories and dreams; choices we made and goals we have. Caught up in these thoughts, I can lose sight of the here and now. But what makes now a moment of any significance? Now is the moment that gives you a choice. It is influenced by the past and influences the future. It is a responsibility and a joy. And this is the beautiful truth about making the most of now. 

Faithful With What’s In Our Control

I have considered my life in terms of hypothetical doors a lot, and Tolkien’s equivalent was his undeniable affinity for roads.  Both analogies represent a multitude of decisions and a myriad of tomorrows. Tomorrow is a reality existent in speculation alone, and therefore one of the most constant uncertainties we face. Sometimes, I worry about my roads and doors. Which is quite ridiculous because it’s not my job to make the road. Rather it is my responsibility to be a faithful sojourner. But what does it mean to be a faithful sojourner?

While I can’t keep Frodo or Samwise from coming to mind, a prevalent biblical example presents itself as well. John 6 tells us about a boy who offers his five barley loaves and two fish to Jesus as 5,000 await food. This is a powerful example of what it means for Christ’s power to be made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12) Yet Andrew, one of Jesus’s disciples, questions “but what are they for so many?”

Sometimes, our tendency can be to ask the same thing about our talents, possessions, and passions. Yet if it was God who gave us what we have, who are we to question whether or not it will be “enough”? Rather, we should pursue a posture of offering all that we have moment by moment. It is in looking back that we can see how the Lord orchestrated everything to his glory and good purpose. So while we’re not called to complacency or laziness, neither are we called to total authorship. 

A Balancing Act

The Past

The past, present, and future are in delicate, beautiful, and ornate tension with one another. The song “Hang On” by NEEDTOBREATHE says “you can look back over your shoulder, yeah, but don’t look too long” and this has stuck with me because if we don’t invest in looking back on things, we can lose both perspective and gratitude on past situations. Yet if we allow ourselves to dwell on the past in such a way that allows it to lead to anxieties and worries, this does not testify to a mind and heart renewed in the Lord. 

One’s personal history is a beautiful thing, though often blemished with scars and drenched in tears. Yet we shouldn’t look back on our life with the intention of reliving the pain. Rather, reflecting on our wounds should cause us to remember how our wounds healed. And likewise, acknowledging our tears should lead us to appreciate the hands which brushed them from our cheeks. But even still, if the past consumes us leaving no room for the present, our life is left essentially void of everything but potential and emotion.

The Present

Originally, when I heard people mention living in the present, I would cringe. That’s because it was meant in a connotation of “you only live once so you might as well make all your terrible or not so terrible life decisions now.” It cast out all traces of memories, something I hold very dear. But as I’ve grown and experienced more moments I’ve made the realization that being present-minded is how moments and memories are essentially made. 

John Lennon once famously said, “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” And I find those words to have a very particular ring of truth to them. If you’re constantly thinking about what the next day will bring, you’re never living in today. While a memory can be defined as “something remembered from the past; a recollection,” that doesn’t negate the fact that when that memory was first made—whether you knew it was a memory or not—you were in the present. For instance, you can look back at a show or performance you might have done and have memories of being on the stage, dancing or singing or performing a monologue. Those things are in the past now, but you’re recalling when you were presently in it. 

Taking this knowledge, if you never live in the present it will eliminate any potential for making memories! 

The Future

In my personal experience, dwelling on the future has triggered heavy emotional reactions. There are so many inevitable things coming in the future of anyone’s life that can be scary, or incredibly sad. In other cases, it can trigger immense worry and anxiety. How do we practically combat unwanted concerns about the future or undesirable outcomes from the appearance of future events? Matthew 6 has a lot to say about this topic. 

Matthew 6:25-34 admonishes us not to worry about what we will eat or what we will wear by giving examples of how the Lord takes care of things that are, as humans, below us. A point that we can glean from this is to apply these comparisons to other things and eliminate worry altogether by trusting the omnipotence of God. The chapter finishes with Jesus saying “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

That motivates me to really focus on living in the present and casting off worry, anxiety, and other emotions because my King and Creator says I don’t have to worry about what tomorrow will bring. Not only that, but He commands me multiple times in the Bible not to be afraid. Seeing this as a command and act of love from the Lord doesn’t make it any easier, but it makes me more dedicated to cast out thoughts of the future and focus on what God has put in front of me. 

To reinforce this concept, it is incredibly eye-opening to look at the other side of dwelling on future events. Fortunately, C. S. Lewis can give us some insight on this. In his novel, The Screwtape Letters, a book written from a demon’s perspective, he makes the line between what betters your walk with the Lord and what leads you away from it so much clearer. Chapter 15 has a lot to say about keeping humans away from the present. “The humans live in time but our Enemy [God because it’s written from a demon’s perspective] destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.” If the devil wants us to stay away from the Present, then what should we do as Christians? Move towards it!

Making the Most of Every Moment

While there is a reason for every season, it can be easy to brush aside the priorities of the present. And sometimes, remembering truth takes being reminded of truth. I have the verse Esther 4:14 hanging on my wall.

“Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.”

And this is my way of reminding myself how important each moment truly is. Perhaps you were born for running the race with perseverance; born for loving your neighbor! Perhaps for singing a new song, or being salt and light! We are children of the King, born for such a time as this and placed on these battlefields for a reason. When we stop worrying about our tomorrows, it opens up opportunities to be present in the social spheres and seasons which we have been given. 

There is such a beauty to being invested in what God has put right in front of your nose. It completely changes your mindset so that you dearly treasure the people God has brought you in this season. Furthermore, it shapes you, by God’s grace, into someone who genuinely cares about and appreciates the people and opportunities God has given you. 

So here I am, just as I was when I started writing, thinking about next year. I don’t know what the year will hold any more than I did before, but I have reminded myself to take another step in the right direction. I still have dreams of the places I want to go and things I want to do. I’ll pray over them and continue to see God’s perfect and perhaps as of yet unrevealed plan fulfilled in my life. “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” I pray this earnestly trusting my Author to take what little I have and use it for His glory. 

My prayer for you, dear reader, is that as you change how you view life and the world by living in the present, you unlock that dearness to what you experience and the people you experience it with. Now is an opportunity to steward the season you’ve been given, and yet we are not meant to travel these roads alone. Now is an opportunity to be dependent on the Lord for what He alone can supply.

Blessings-Naomi and Hadassah