Living In The Moment...

Living in the moment…

I’ve been thinking about that phrase a lot today.

Shouldn’t it be a positive thing? Shouldn’t it make us feel happy, carefree, content, loved, wanted, fulfilled….and on and on…

The world tells us to live there – in the moment. Say what you want to say, do what you want to do. If it makes you happy then by all means go there. If it feels good, don’t stop. Just do what seems like the most fun and don't over think things. Be spontaneous. Go with the flow. It doesn’t really seem to work the way they make it sound. Sure in the moment it may all seem perfectly acceptable, feel good, make you happy. But what about after? What happens when that moment has past? What are you left with then?

I’m not sure what your experiences have been, but my in the moment experiences have often left me feeling rather unhappy, unloved, unwanted, and unfulfilled. All leading me to feel that this in the moment philosophy is rather flawed.

I want to live my life in some other place. Somewhere less impulsive and more grounded. In a place where my feelings, wants, and needs can't ever override what is ultimately best for me and those I care about. A place where joy is never sacrificed for a moment of happiness. A place where best wins over good. A place where my actions line up with God’s plan to glorify Himself through my life. A place where He rules and I do not.

My perspective needs to change.

I need to live in ETERNITY.

I need to view my choices through the lens of ETERNITY.

This life we live is a moment, a blip on the radar of The Almighty who stands outside the restraints of time in a place called ETERNITY with a perspective that we could never, will never, fully comprehend as long as we are held fast in the grip of TIME. From this place He is composing the most wonderful story. A story where He is declared over and over as I AM, where His glory shines forever. A story that He has graciously allowed us to be a part of. A story where our choices matter – regardless of how insignificant those choices may seem in the moment.

And the enemy wants us to believe that our choices in this blip of time couldn’t possibly have that great of an impact on our own lives and much less ETERNITY….but ETERNITY is coming…in a moment we will be with HIM – GOD ALMIGHTY. And while I want to focus on the part where I am made like Him and He wipes all my tears away, there is also going to be a time when I give an account for how I lived. I feel like in that moment the excuse of “Oh, I was just living in the moment, God!” is going to drop like a small smooth pebble thrown into vast raging ocean...meaningless...lost...pointless...

I think He cares – that is, I think God cares about these little moments in our lives. Those small decisions where it may not be a matter of right and wrong but best over good. I think it matters to Him. I think He desires that we, in those moments, press pause and take a look through the window of ETERNITY and contemplate the impact of the decision.  Those seemingly harmless decisions matter. They are just as important as those big moments, when temptation stares us in the face and we have to make the choice between God's way or sin. I think God cares about those decisions, however big or small, all just the same. It all counts. And there is a joy indescribable when we make the choice to live our lives in light of ETERNITY. It is there we feel loved, carefree, content, wanted, and fulfilled because it is there that we find I AM. 

So just in case I forget to remember, I’m writing it here….I’m living my life in light of ETERNITY.