Living in the Moment

I recently spent three days and three nights attending an Emmaus Walk at a local church. I had heard about them for years, but never felt nudged to attend one until several weeks ago. It was described to me, prior to my attendance, as little blessings and surprises wrapped in love that kept building upon each other. Of course I tried hard to figure that out, but there was no way I could’ve been prepared for what transpired—especially in my own heart. I won’t share any of those major surprises with you (I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else), but I will say I was blown away. Not immediately, but well into the second day it seemed I couldn’t quit crying from the joy and overwhelming love, I continuously felt from God.

The stress of daily life had crept up on me to the point where I had been doing very little ministry, including inspirational writing. I had drifted away from the Lord, and hadn’t even realized it. I had let myself become increasingly busy trying to make up for my husband’s job loss, and to emotionally be there for him through his chronic pain. Having time set aside just to hear from God was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.

Right off the bat, the most refreshing thing I heard from the leaders was, we wouldn’t see any clocks and not to wear a watch so we could “live in the moment.”  That proved to be a lot harder for some than for others. For me, not only was it refreshing, but it was humbling to realize how little I had been trusting God, and how much I had been trying to control my own life. I had been missing out on living today, because I was so worried about tomorrow.

I had forgotten to put (and keep) first things first. We are not here to make money and have nice houses. Yes, we do need some money and a decent dwelling, but the buying and caring for stuff should never mean more to us than serving God by loving and ministering to others. When we keep our priorities right, God blesses us and uses us to be a blessing.

How about you? Are you living in the moment? Are you trusting God with the small stuff?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)