I love going out with my kids. Well, I don’t go out with all of them that much these days because a new chapter of life has already ushered itself into our family. So, no more putting my kids in the back seat and driving around. Oh, how I missed those days!
Today, lucky day, I went out with my little one, Biruk, to see an orthodontist. Since my kids are getting taller and me getting nowhere??, people think that I am their sister or guardian, not a parent. Don’t you love that? I do!
So, since this was Biruk’s first appointment, the doctor came in and introduced himself and greeted Biruk. Then he turned around and said, “Hello” to me. I greeted him back. And he said, “So, you are?” I knew he was not asking my name. So, I immediately said, “His mother, Missy.”
He smiled and said, “Oh, I thought you were his sister or something, not a parent.”
We all laughed. Don’t you love those kinds of men who know how to brighten up a woman’s day! And, to capitalize on that, I said, “Well, Biruk is my little one. I have other two older and taller than him kids.” Just imagine my proud face!
Anyways, we finished there and on our way back, I said to myself, “You know, you may not find this son of yours another day. You better use him today.”
So, I suggested that we go to grocery. He first said no, then when I said I would buy the things he usually wanted to get, he agreed. We went to grocery and bought everything on my grocery list, including those heavy stuff.
When we went back to the car, I opened the trunk and went directly into my car saying, “Oh, how I wish you always come with me here!”
Putting the stuff into the car, my Biruk said, “Mom, this is like once in a lifetime kind of thing. You may as well enjoy it while it lasts. Don’t worry about tomorrow.”
I thought God was speaking to me directly. You know why? God has been teaching me how to live in the “now,” not in the “later” time because God is a God of now.
Anxious people like me always think about later time; that means, they don’t know how to thank and praise God for all His blessings He is pouring on them at the present moment. So, they are always short in thanksgiving, that means, they are always short in joy and peace.
So, I immediately began thanking God: “Thank You LORD that You let my son come with me and help me with the groceries. Thank You Father for letting me afford to buy these stuff. Thank you Father for this wonderful weather. Thank You Abba for this light traffic and these beautiful trees. Oh, thank You LORD that my car rides nice today.” Did I stop? No, there were many things I needed to be thankful for at that moment. All those things are not here with me now but other new blessings; such as, I am now in my house. The air conditioner made the house cool which I love, I thank God for that. And since there is no one in the house now, I can focus on my reading and writing, praise God. I just ate lunch, my favorite lunch, Praise God! (I am not going to tell you what it was though because you may laugh at me.) And I just took some time with the word of God, with Numbers chapter 16 and got fascinated with the truth of God in that chapter and I am thanking God for that.
Do I have time to worry for the next moment? For tomorrow? No, I don’t. I am busy praising and thanking God.
So, here is my message to you today, my beloved Appeal for Purity Facebook followers: Focusing on the now helps our mind to focus on our blessings. When we focus on our blessings, not problems, we get overwhelmed with God’s blessings, mercy and grace and we can’t resist the desire to praise God. When we continuously count our blessings and praise God, we cannot give our attention to all those anxious thoughts which always push us to focus on the half empty glasses.
By the way, why doesn’t God want us to worry about tomorrow?
People who worry about tomorrow don’t believe in God and they don’t trust God. Not trusting God for tomorrow is like a slab on God’s sovereignty. God calls that “Contempt.”
“How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me” (Numbers 14:11a) and “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor Me” (Psalm 50:23a)
And the word of God says:
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
So, let’s trust God for later and thank Him for now. Let’s strive to focus on “NOW” and leave “later” to Him. Let’s count all God’s blessings and be filled with praise and worship. You know what that means? It means, we make our flesh, the devil and this dark world losers in every moment of our lives! A Christian who praises and thanks God from the heart has no time to worry, murmur and complain. ///