Enjoying the Here & Now

The Lord has really been breaking me lately of my tendency to focus more on the negative, and on what I don’t have instead of on the positive and the things which he has blessed me with. This sinful way of thinking warps my mindset about things, and is something I greatly desire to change and pray that the Lord will enable me to do so. I have every reason in the world to be totally and completely content, solely because I have been given the gift of salvation, not to mention the countless other blessings I have been given in my family, my incredible boyfriend, my friends, the fact that I never want for food, clothing, or shelter, and the list could go on and on…so why do I struggle so much with being content? Because I’m selfish and proud and think that I deserve more than I have, when the fact is that I don’t deserve a thing…

Throughout every season of life the Lord is my ultimate source of satisfaction..in him I have everything I will ever need. When life is beyond great, he is all that I need..when life seems like it just sucks, he is all I need..when life is just going along, seemingly mundane and ordinary, he is all that I need..what’s the common denominator here? In the Lord I find everything I will ever, and could ever, need…EVER..and because of that, I can be, and am commanded to be, content and completely satisfied in him alone.

People and circumstances will change and disappoint me, but the Lord never will. Life will never always go exactly as I plan, but I do know that it will always go exactly as the Lord plans, and that fact should cause me to be completely filled with joy and to be able to fully enjoy each and every moment of life, recognizing each day as a perfect gift from God.

I have recently been convicted of focusing too much on the future and on worrying about getting to the next phase in my life, that I have been neglecting to really enjoy and appreciate what the Lord has blessed me with in the here and now. God has me exactly where he wants me –everything in my life is under his sovereign control. I need to learn to continually rest in that fact, and to enjoy that fact. My worrying about what is going to happen next, and my thinking that I need to “help” God in working out the details of my life will do absolutely nothing productive..in fact, those things will only serve as hindrances to what the Lord is trying to teach me and to accomplish in my life.

I am learning to stop focusing on what I wish I had, or on where I want to be down the road, and am instead learning to trust that the Lord has given me everything that I need and that he has me in the exact spot he wants me at this point in my life. I don’t need to worry about how I am going to get to where I want to be in the future-the Lord will take me and lead me exactly where HE wants me to be..and I know that I won’t be disappointed!

Philippians 4:11-13-“...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”