Yes, the gas leak in Arlington is right by our house; about a block away. Even I can hear it leaking. I asked the police/fire dude standing in the road if he would leave if it was his house. He said no...I'm trusting so far. The kids are understandably freaked out. Rusty, if the place blows up, you can have our Mac.
So, anyway.
Is it possible to live in the future? How about living in the past? Can it be done?
Have you ever met someone who is always looking back to the past? Always going over regrets of mistakes they've made? What about someone who constantly lives for when things will get better. They're not happy now or doing the right thing now, but they will be...
I was speaking in a nursing home this last weekend and was talking about God's plans. I gave them the ol' Jeremiah 29:11 passage, but was struggling with how to apply it to people who may think of themselves as at the end of their lives*.
I asked them to think back over their lives: the good, bad, and seemingly insignificant things they had done. I talked about how God used every part of their lives to make them into the person they are RIGHT NOW. Then I said, "You aren't at the end of your life, you're at the same time you've always been - right now."
After I said this, I stopped and stared at them, thinking over the words that had come unexpectedly from my mouth.
Let's think about this; have you ever really lived in a time other than right now? No, of course not. It isn't possible. But we all know or are people who live like they're in the past or the future. Try as we might, we'll never live any time except for right now.
I'm a future guy. I'm always expecting things to get better or change. This can be good, because I tend to be optimistic. But I also can be discontent in my current circumstances - whatever they may be. When routine sets in, it is difficult for me to not look expectantly to the future for some exciting, but non-existent change. I think that God is trying to teach me to live now. To be content now. To do the right thing now. To serve Him now. To be the person I'm supposed to be right now.
*My father lived in different nursing homes the last ten years of his life. They can be hopeless places. I'm generalizing. Not all nursing homes are like this. Work with me here.
Technorati Tags: life, missions, time
So, anyway.Is it possible to live in the future? How about living in the past? Can it be done?
Have you ever met someone who is always looking back to the past? Always going over regrets of mistakes they've made? What about someone who constantly lives for when things will get better. They're not happy now or doing the right thing now, but they will be...
I was speaking in a nursing home this last weekend and was talking about God's plans. I gave them the ol' Jeremiah 29:11 passage, but was struggling with how to apply it to people who may think of themselves as at the end of their lives*.
I asked them to think back over their lives: the good, bad, and seemingly insignificant things they had done. I talked about how God used every part of their lives to make them into the person they are RIGHT NOW. Then I said, "You aren't at the end of your life, you're at the same time you've always been - right now."
After I said this, I stopped and stared at them, thinking over the words that had come unexpectedly from my mouth.
Let's think about this; have you ever really lived in a time other than right now? No, of course not. It isn't possible. But we all know or are people who live like they're in the past or the future. Try as we might, we'll never live any time except for right now.
I'm a future guy. I'm always expecting things to get better or change. This can be good, because I tend to be optimistic. But I also can be discontent in my current circumstances - whatever they may be. When routine sets in, it is difficult for me to not look expectantly to the future for some exciting, but non-existent change. I think that God is trying to teach me to live now. To be content now. To do the right thing now. To serve Him now. To be the person I'm supposed to be right now.
*My father lived in different nursing homes the last ten years of his life. They can be hopeless places. I'm generalizing. Not all nursing homes are like this. Work with me here.
Technorati Tags: life, missions, time
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