PRESENT DOORS
Yesterday, I was thinking about all the things I have not been able to do since March, of this year 2020. This virus has changed so many things in the past months. Church services have been on zoom and YouTube. I have not hugged any of my church family in that entire time! Each month, I have always had a birthday party for family members, whose birthday is that month. I have not had my family over for almost 6 months! At work, I am in a back office trying to stay safe from this virus. We are not letting clients in the building. Part of the job I have always enjoyed is interacting with our clients face to face. Comforting those who have to say goodbye to their pet, who were such an intricate part of their lives. We have had to hide behind masks to keep us from this silent virus, while it continues to wage war against the very breath that we breathe.
Going through that door of past reminders, of what has been lost, makes me so sad that our new reality, of what we must live by, (at least until we can get control of the spreading of this virus and get a vaccine), are in the confines of a new normal! I know I have been so “spoiled” by my past life of conveniences and availability to go and do what I want. My heart becomes heavy dwelling on what could have been.
So, what do I need to do when I start sinking into that darkness? I need to remember that as I am thinking of all I have lost, that I am wasting the valuable time I am in right now-right this minute! What can I do right now to serve my Lord? The answer to that will be different for everyone who is reading this blog. God has given each and every one of us talents and a purpose or purposes, to fulfill while we are here on this earth. There are so many examples in the Bible of people who have gone on before us and the purpose that those men and women served at that particular time in history. Yes, trials and tribulation came upon these men and women of God, but it helped prepare them for their future and what God had planned for them.
Let’s look at three scriptures in the Bible.
Jeremiah 29:13-14. God was talking to the Israelites through Jeremiah to give them hope, strength and peace. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity.”
Romans 8:28. God was talking to the Christians through Paul, who were being persecuted, to let them know that He was with them. What they were going through was really for their future good. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:37-39. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life; nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Just sit and meditate on these verses. What do you see in these verses to help your present situation? Let me share with you what I see.
- I see that all of those hurtful, painful times I have had in my past, were there to help me in my future! The older I get; I see the reality of that fact.
- I see that God only wants good for us. We need to remember to lean on Him-reach out to Him-trust in Him, because He is working for a brighter future for us.
- I see that each one of us has a God given purpose for our lives. He uses us to shine His light to this world.
- I see that nothing, even a pandemic, can separate us from our God and His love for us. He is always within a prayer-a thoughts distance from us and even when the hard times come, we just need to remember His promises and the hope for our future!
We ask ourselves, why did God allow all of the things (I listed quite a few headlines in my last blog) that are going on right now-today! But instead of lingering on that, why not start looking at this day-this moment-this second and hold on tight. Time passes so quickly! My daughter posts things from the past that my grandkids have done. She posted one today from seven years ago of her boys. Now, one is in middle school and the other is right behind him. How can that be? Its like I want to catch that moment in time and just travel back to it, holding on tight! But rather, I need to look at this moment in my life and use it for good. Although I agree, we must look back at some things in our past-cherish them-learn from them. We also need to make plans for our future-our eternal future as well as our earthy. But we need to stop right now and look at our lives. What are we doing right now-right this minute? What or who do we need to grab ahold of and enjoy the time right now in our present?
One day, I made a list of everything I did that day. How long it took me to do it and how long I actually spent on it. I was amazed at how much time I did nothing productive. Of course, there are days when we are not feeling good or we are just tired from a day at work. Yes, we need down days. But if our down days become our every day, we need to reevaluate our present door that we are going through and use it more productively.
I like this quote from Joyce Meyers. “Since you can’t undo anything from the past-you might as well do something great with today.” As you have been reading this blog, time has marched on. You have spent some of your valuable today, to read my thoughts and I thank you so much for that. Your encouragement means the world to me.
So, what am I saying? Stop right now. Look around you. Is there someone you need to say you love them? Is there someone you have meant to call-text-send a card to but keep finding something else to do? Where is your Bible? Is it sitting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust? Go get it, dust it off and absorb what God has given us, to give us hope and peace. What could you be doing right now to spend time with kids or grandkids-in service for the Lord-to quiet your spirit-to rest-to remember God’s nature-whatever in your life that maybe you should be doing right now? Don’t waste your time in the present. God gifted you this moment in time. That is why it is called the present. Just don’t only look towards tomorrow, but hold on to today. James 4:14 reads, “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Everyone reading this realizes that time goes by quickly. When I did my ladies days, I spent an entire year before preparing for it. Then, when the day came, it seemed like it went so fast like a vapor.
Now, after reading this, do not start feeling guilty or bad about what you do or have done in the moment. Every second we live is a new beginning. It is a time to rise from the ashes of this world and what is going on in it. A time to learn from the past-live in this moment-to make a better future!
I am going to end this blog, with a quote from a tv show, “Call the Midwife.” At the end of each show, there are words of wisdom that are associated with that particular show.
“The seasons will always turn-the clouds will gather-the cold will come-we will survive them. We will grow old regardless of the weather. We will know wonder where there has been despair-then, there will be happiness. We will be remembered-there will be friendships we won’t forget. Love is the constant whereby we endure-it is what gets us out of the storm-that will help us thrive. Welcome the darkness as a draped canopy from which the stars can hang for there are always stars. When we are where we ought to be-among the faces we love best-each with a place-each with purpose-as fixed and familiar as the constellations Darkness is beautiful or how else could we shine.”
Your present doors quickly become past doors. Cherish this day that the Lord has given you. You will never return to live it any differently, but you can learn from it. Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” What plans do you have for today?
Till next time. Keela
(The picture at the first of this blog, are my daughters two boys six or seven years ago. They live on the Navy base and planes fly low & right over their house. This was the first time Owen had seen a plane that close. Poor Adasen was focused on just trying to peddle his brother in the cart. Priceless!)