Where You Are Right Now
I’m sure you know of a professional athlete who was not doing well on a particular team in that particular city…
Then, that athlete got traded to another team in another city—and all the sudden they thrived.
It was as if the old place just had the wrong mojo.
Sometimes, we think we’re professional athletes suffering in the wrong place.
And all we can think about is getting traded.
“If I could just move to a better city…”
“When I am no longer single…”
“If I made more money…”
“When I’m done with school…”
There’s a problem with this line of reasoning. First of all, you’re not a professional athlete.
Also, when we spend RIGHT NOW fantasizing about the next season, we’re missing out on the gift of NOW.
“Don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.” —1 Corinthians 7.17 MSG
Wow. Sometimes we need to be reminded: where we are right NOW is God’s place for us.
There is blessing to discover right here, right NOW. God is at work in my life NOW, in this season. My job is to discover what God is up to in my life right NOW.
The verse challenges us to “live and obey and love and believe right there.” Let’s be honest – it’s hard to live and obey and love and believe right there when all of our focus is on getting outta there.
I believe how we do NOW speaks to the next season. I want to figure out how to be fully present, alive, at peace, and in the moment right NOW. Successfully embracing my NOW paves the way for whatever is next.
We take who we are with us to whatever is next – whether that’s a city or job or relationship. We will either bring peace or restlessness along with us from our NOW season into the next one.
So let’s not be wishing we were someplace else or with someone else.
Where we are right NOW is God’s place for us.
Let’s be fully present, alive, at peace, and in the moment right NOW—living and obeying and loving and believing right there.
I am a husband, father, pastor, leader & reader. I love God, love people & love life.
Thanks for the blog today. We chose in October to stop constantly asking Jesus about where we are going next….and started embracing now. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that decision & start stressing again….
Super important to live in the present moment!! Your post reminded me instantly of this quote, “You are in God’s place at God’s perfect time. Your days are in His hands, and He is your future. He has placed his hand upon you to bless you and make you a blessing.” -Roy Lessen
I got a Christmas card with that quote on it, and I used that card as a bookmark in my journal for 3 years. I memorized it, and whenever I found myself some place in life where I really did not want to be, I played it over & over in my mind. And each night when I wrote in my journal I would think about those words. It helped me many times to stay grateful, and direct my focus onto whatever opportunities I might have been overlooking (rather than insisting there WERE NO opportunities in that season)
Funny thing is I thought I had lost that card (It wasn’t lost- just shuffled in with some other papers) Then a year or two later, I received a new copy of the exact same Christmas card.. So needless to say, I found the first card, now I have two copies, and either way it doesn’t really matter since I have it memorized and I have the lesson stored up from all those times I reflected on it lol.
I got to thinking about two things. First is an old song from Crosby Stills & Nash titled If you can be with the ones you love love the ones you’re with. Pretty sure that group had nothing spiritual in mind but one of people in our Young Life group turn that phrase around to mean, I can still fellowship with the people I’m with even if they aren’t part of my inner circle of friends. Kind of take advantage of the moment.
Second is watched an old Twilight episode (the TV kind in B&W). A classic Sci Fi of time travel back to the past (to a better time) only to find out two things. Things weren’t better back then, and you are always on the outside looking in. Living in the future might be the same just turned on its head. There is only one place you can live.