Surrender & Stay Present

The present is all I have to work with. The future is not here and the past is over.

July 2

Surrender and stay in the present is what God brought me back to again today. When all seems well it is easy for me to stay in the present. Enjoying each day and each moment for what it is. But when I am tired, sad, or in pain, I tend to look anywhere but here. I look to the future for the hope that this too shall pass. When all will be good and easy again. In a sense, I am looking for a way out. Or sometimes, I look to the future with fear of what will happen, or not happen. Will I be able to handle it. All those what if’s.

Sometimes, I look to the past for answers. How did I get here and what did I do wrong? How can I fix it? Again I’m looking for a way out of the discomfort. In a lot of ways, this contemplation has served me well. I have come to understand a lot about myself and change. Slowly becoming more like Christ. But when my motive is to run away from the anxiety, restlessness, or disquiet, I am running from God and not to Him.

God is only in my present. I can learn from past mistakes, to not do that again. Or, with God’s help, I can understand and heal broken places. But, to dwell and wish I could change the past is a waste of time. Spending time in regret only weighs me down. There is no life there. There is no hope because I can’t change anything in the past.

Surrender and stay present. The present is where I live. The present is all I have in my hands. I can choose how to respond in this moment. The response I have made is over and the one I will make next has not happened. I don’t even know what life will bring, never mind how to prepare for it. I simply need to trust God with my life, my every moment. I need to continue to learn and grow, and that all happens in the present. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 NASB