I read this the other day:
If you try to carry tomorrow’s burdens today, you will stagger under the load and eventually fall flat. You must discipline yourself to live within the boundaries of today. It is in the present moment that I walk close to you.~Jesus Calling, p. 60, emphasis mine
And I immediately thought this:
Anybody else in the same boat? What next are you trading in for a now?
p.s. I’m pumped about next week on the blog! We’re talking movies and zombies and metaphors on both Monday and Friday. Sandwiched in between is a super fun Q&A with author fave Mary Connealy on Wednesday plus a giveaway of her latest book. Woohoo!
Comments 26
That is a good word! We have to focus on what He has placed before us today, becuase it’s how He prepares us for tomorrow. I will be chewing on this for a while!
And I’ll be chewing right alongside you. 🙂
It is so easy to focus on what’s next and how we’re going to get there. I’ve found if I’m focusing on today, I’m prepared when “next” happens. Great post.
Ooh, I like that, Pat!
Wonderful reminder to focus on today, Melissa! I’m so there with you! And I love the picture. 🙂
Thanks! That’s actually a photo I took on a return trip to London. I took it for my mom, who loves “red door” perfume. 🙂 I love pretty British buildings.
Now.
Now is good.
Now is all I’ve got (besides the eternal promises of God).
Thanks for the reminder.
I love that you added that note about the eternal promises of God…it’s really because of those promises that we CAN focus on today and not worry about tomorrow.
I’ve been constantly guilty of this but I’m trying to embrace now and leave tomorrow’s worries for tomorrow. Currently as I feel the seismic shift toward empty nest, I find myself in constant wonder of what that will really look like in daily life but I don’t want to miss these last now moments with my youngest child!
Hope you oh-so-enjoy these final months with your youngest at home, Anne!
Now!!! Thanks for reminding me to concentrate on the now. I have a tendency to ponder about my next projects and become bored with my current WIP. No!! Must stop doing this.
Thanks, Melissa.
Oh yeah, I have that problem, too, Ruth…when I know I’m supposed to be focusing on one book, but I’ve got a bunch of exciting thoughts for the next one zipping through my brain. 🙂
I have to ask myself this often! I can be that person who gets overwhelmed in the now and looks to the next, then complains that life moves too fast:) I do this a lot with my kids, and I’m working on living in the now with them.
It’s funny how both “now” and “next” can be equally overwhelming…but how the solution for both is the same: total dependence on God. Easy to say. Not always so easy to do. 🙂
I’ve definitely been purposing to focus and enjoy on the now and trusting God for the next!
Love it, Jess!
Hey Melissa! Have you seen the movie ‘Now is Good?’ Just curious.
I haven’t. But probably I should, yeah?
LOVE that picture and your thoughts here. You know me…like you, I tend to think waaaaay into the future. But God wants to teach me something right now, and if I’m always thinking about the future only, then I totally miss it. My focus should be on Him anyway, and not on what’s to come. Thanks for the reminder, friend!!
PS- I MISS YOU!!!! Is it okay to be excited about seeing you in June, even though it’s in the future? Hehe.
Heck yeah it’s okay to be excited about June. I think that’s a “next” which is oh-so-ok to focus on. Haha!! Can. Not. Wait. Miss ya tons.
Such truth, Melissa. It can be tempting to live for the next, but I’m doing my utmost to embrace the now. While it isn’t always pleasant to be waiting for something, I can miss the joy in the present if my focus is on the future. That’s why I’m embracing the fun of the new story I’m starting.
Eek, you mentioned the “w” word. Waiting. Not so much my favorite thing in the world. But the wait is always more pleasant when we simply take things a day at a time, focusing on today and leaving tomorrow to, well, tomorrow. 🙂 Yay, it’s fun to hear that you’re starting a new story…hoping and praying it’s one I get to read soon!
Mary Connealy! She’s so sweet and bubbly, like you, Melissa! And I know–I’ve been reading JESUS CALLING and I think it seems to hit me right between the eyes EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Oh, thank you, Heather. I’m so excited to have Mary on the blog. And yeah, exact same experience reading Jesus Calling…it’s perfect every time.
Knowing what now to focus on can be a kicker too when you don’t know the now. Can you still pray about the now you don’t know about? Yes. I believe so. I know Who knows the now and the later and I trust Him. (and now we know why Melissa is the writer!) Thanks again for the red door picture. It is still beautiful.
Haha, Mom, and yes, probably praying about the now is even better than overly focusing on it, I’m sure. Especially when it feels like there are a dozen nows in front of you. Hehehe…I guess that’s when you pray about it, pick one and dive in. And in the end, it’s all about what you said anyway–trust the one who knows our nows and our laters. 🙂