By, Joanna Neal
We tend to look forward to the next thing. For me, it was graduating from college, then dating, then getting engaged, and then getting married.
We get excited about the next step. Since moving to America, my husband and I have been blessed with so many things: a beautiful apartment, food in our pantry, friends who love and support us, and a home church where we now serve. Yet, as we drive along the streets of Dearborn, Michigan I find myself thinking, “This is so exciting! I can’t wait to have our own house someday.”
I mean, seriously? We just moved into our apartment that was practically furnished and renovated by so many people from our church… It’s literally a Pinterest board come alive but my mind is already somewhere else.
So I see it- the dream of getting married is now followed by having our own home, having kids, and it goes on and on… Nothing wrong in looking forward to things. But then I thought, how many times do we miss out on the NOW simply because our eyes are distracted and sometimes focused on what’s not here right now? If I focus, truly focus, on what God has given me now, what amount of joy can that add in my spirit today?
Philippians 4:11, 19
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
19 But my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Paul believed that God is a good Father, and he learned to be at peace, knowing that He withholds nothing good from His children. If God sees it fit for me to gain something materially or spiritually, then everything that falls on my lap and every circumstance He allows me to go through is an avenue for me to know more of His power and to be conformed more into His image.
This is a lifestyle, a choice that needs to be deeply ingrained in our hearts, because life does get weary and difficult. In the future, if God never allows me to have the things I dream of having, I can rest my heart knowing that my life now and in the coming days is and will be good. It’s already good because I have Jesus - the greatest treasure!
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