Living in the Present

 I visited with one of our senior adult ladies last night. We talked about life and getting older. I asked if she ever dreamed she would be where she is right now. She responded that her whole life she just lived in the present moment she was in. What a great way to live. 

There are plenty of people stuck in the past. They live their lives looking back over their shoulder at the good old glory days. The recall life when they were foot loose and fancy free in high school or college. The recount exploits they accomplished. You may especially see this in former athletes. They make themselves to be legends in their own minds. The tales get larger with time. 

On the other hand, there are people who live with past regrets. They cannot forgive themselves for a sinful blunder, a moral failure, or a very poor decision that resulted in painful consequences. I agree with the adage that we should learn from our mistakes. We cannot go back and undo them. Why waste the time pining away in regret and remorse. It is a waste of energy. Paul exhorts us to forget what lies behind and to reach forward to what lies ahead. [Phil 3:13] The past is in the past. We cannot recapture it. Yesterday is gone forever no matter how much nostalgia it still holds. 

There are other people who are wide-eyed dreamers. They live in the future tense. They are so focused on what they are going to do one day when they get around to it that they miss out on life right in front of them. Parents do this trying to make money and then one day realize the kids are grown and out of the house. They miss out of those wonderful bonding memories of early childhood all the way up to graduation from high school. 

Some dream so much about what they are going to do, but they never get around to doing it until it is too late. They are oblivious to the mercies and blessings of God all around them. They chase after the next dream, get rich quick scheme, or promotion. There is nothing wrong with having vision and pursuing goals. Not to the point of missing life in the here and now. If a person dreams but never does, they will waste a great of their life.

It is rare to find someone content to live in the present. These people age well. They do not try and hide their age with fashionable clothing more fit for teens than senior adults. They own their age with silver hair, wrinkles, and a few aches and pains to boot. Like Paul they learned to be content in whatever circumstances they are in at the moment. [Phil 4:11] It is a treasure to find people who enjoy life no matter what age they are. Singles who enjoy being single and the freedom to follow God on mission without the restraints of a family. Students who make the most of learning instead of wanting to hurry up and be grown and get into the work force. People starting their careers in entry level positions who are content to work faithfully where they are instead of striving to climb the ladder. Retired people who are not grumpy ranting about their dislikes. Middle agers who are not going through life altering mid-life crisis. 

Living in the present is a gift. For instance, it is nearing the end of a very productive day. I could shut it all down and call it done. Living in the present meant capturing that memory from last night and corralling those thoughts into words. I still have seven minutes before 5:00 p.m. Soon my bride of 33 years will walk through our front door. It really does not matter what we do tonight. I want to live in the present and just enjoy her company. A blessing I do not want to take for granted. 

Increase Our Faith

 Who wouldn't want stronger faith? Who does not need a more potent faith to cope with day-to-day challenges? In Luke 17:5 the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. Is that a prayer that we also need to pray?

The word increase in that passage means to add, be brought further, given more, and to proceed. For whatever measure of faith, we have today, we could all use more. We need God to add to our faith. To take us further in faith than we have been before. Give us more and more to match the challenges of life. To proceed further in life and kingdom causes than we could ever go in our own strength. 

Muscles grow and are strengthened when they are repeatedly put under stress. That is why track athletes train vigorously running to strengthen their legs and increase their lung capacity. The stress is not pleasant when going through it, but the return is optimal performance in competition. 

The same principle is true for lifting weights. The more stress the muscles endure the bigger they grow and the stronger they become. I teach a weightlifting class. The principle is simple. I do not repeat the same workouts for each class. I design the workouts to continually shock and strain muscles to do something that forces them to work harder. The end result is those muscles grow, and strength grows to lift heavier weights. 

If we really want God to increase our faith, we must be willing to have faith strained and stressed in a series of tests. We do not like these challenges. As we age, we want a more comfortable and secure life. We certainly do not want to have to exercise faith to endure some new challenge. That is the way faith is increased. With each challenge and prayerful belief for God to see us through the challenge, faith increases and grows stronger. In time, we are able to handle greater challenges because our increased faith believes God is able to handle each challenge before us no matter how daunting. We can look back on His past faithfulness to bolster faith for future answers. 

Do we really want the Lord to increase our faith? I certainly do. I am facing numerous faith challenges ahead. I can see them on the horizon. I can doubt and give into fear. Or I can flex that faith God has increased and challenged for the past three decades. Some of these challenges are big. I see no solution in my own resources. I'm not tapping into my resources. I am trusting God to do something miraculously marvelous. My favorite part of that cycle is when I get to sit behind this computer tapping the keys to brag on God or stand behind a pulpit and testify about what He has done. 

O Lord, we plead that you increase our faith. Give us more and more. Help us not shy away from the process to get that increase. May you be glorified by all the answers to prayer.