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a reprint. that I need.

It’s hard to write currently.

Hard to make time.  Hard to think straight.  Hard to focus.

And I find that sometimes what I’ve already written a long time ago is actually what I am still thinking now.

Or what I should be thinking.

I wrote this post six years ago.

That’s kind of crazy.  Six years ago.  Otto a newborn, spitting up all over the world.  Riley in high school, spitting up all over the world in her own fashion.  Me doing the same as well.  Four other tiny kids trying to figure out their little ways in the world, dressing up in costumes and wading in streams and letting me pick out their clothes.

I wrote it six years ago, but I need it now.

It was called Right Now and Forever.

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So I have had these thoughts mulling around in my brain for a while now.

Thoughts about the past. Which cause thoughts about the future.

I like to dwell on yesterday. And the yesterdays before that yesterday. Oh so many yesterdays. I just let my mind sit still in last week, last month, last year.

And then I think about tomorrow. And the next tomorrow. And the tomorrow that will follow that tomorrow. And all of the next weeks and months and years. Decades even. I just think on and on about the tomorrows I know nothing about.

But what’s wrong with all that thinking?

I’m pretty sure Paul said something about forgetting the past. And I think the gospel of Matthew assures me that worrying about the future won’t add anything to that future.

What does that leave me with?

I have been wondering that a lot lately. Where does that leave me?

And then I read a little C.S. Lewis. (A Year With C.S. Lewis – Daily Readings From His Classic Works – get it.) I think God made that guy a genius.

“I believe [God] wants [people] to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.”

Because the past is where it is – the past. It cannot be altered. It has already been. It was.

And no amount of thinking about it, pining for it, weeping over it, holding to it, denying it, will ever change it.

It was. It is no more.

The past.

It cannot be again.

And the future?

Well, it is where it is.

The future.

Unknown. Unpredictable. Tomorrow. And the next day. Out of our hands. (Ultimately.) No matter how we try. Uncontrollable.

And no amount of planning for it, predicting it, talking about it, worrying about it, dreaming about it, fearing it, will ever change it.

It will be. And we don’t know how. Or when. Or in what form.

We cannot control it.

But wait, where does that leave us?

In the Present.

Right now. Where I am. Sitting. Standing. Sleeping. Eating. Playing Legos with my kids. Making dinner. Listening to the music on my iPod. Praying. Reading. Running. Surviving. Lying. Celebrating. Helping. Hurting. Breaking down. Building up. Right now.

And my time is in God’s hands. And I am only guaranteed this moment. Right now.

Well, actually, I have one other guarantee.

Eternity.

The forever part of me. Eternal. Never ending. Always.

Unfathomable, but nonetheless true.

Where every knee bows. Every tongue confesses.

And I think Lewis was right. Whatever part of my brain gets bogged down with anything other than the Present and Eternity is pretty much a waste of my time, my heart and my energy.

Thinking about the past leaves me empty.

Worrying about the future leaves me fearful.

Only when I focus on right now am I able to enjoy God’s gifts of grace and mercy and

peace that passes all understanding.

Only when my eyes rest upon the image of eternity am I able to find comfort, security and that

peace that passes all understanding.

The Present. Eternity.

That’s really enough to think about anyway, isn’t it?

 

 

 

5 Comments

  • Sara

    This is so much Truth. My mind boggles.
    God’s timetable just looks so different than ours. I choose His.
    God help me.

  • Chelsea

    Oh, this is hard. And true. But hard.

    And I hope you don’t mind me sharing some other long ago words that I’ve held onto and looked at again and again, needing the reminder.

    “I think we are all like that. We don’t know what is best for us and we all dislike waiting. We want what we know, what is comfortable, what is routine. We want our parents to never age, our children to always be obedient, our jobs to always be stable. What we want is what Mosely wanted – static, unchanging lives. And what we get is the opposite – unexpected turns, surprise visits, unplanned adventures. And even though the new is often times an improvement over the old, we cling tenaciously to the familiar and resist the alternative. We weep. And the night seems long. It seems very long. But God’s promise to us is so much bigger than even our promise to our daughter.
    You will weep. You will. But joy cometh in the morning. Joy.
    And all we have to do is wait.”

    And…

    Lord, I don’t know where all this is going
    or how it all works out.
    Lead me to peace that is past understanding –
    a peace beyond all doubt.
    O Lord, you are the author,
    redeeming what’s been done.
    You hold me in the present
    and all that is to come.

    Such good reminders. Words of wisdom.

    • laceykeigley

      My goodness – I need to go back and read that one too.

      Thanks for sharing – and it means something pretty special to me that you have remembered that all this time.