People usually fall into two different camps. There are those who long for the past-who drift in reminiscing and nostalgia and can never seem to escape yesterday. And then there are those who look optimistically to the future-daydreaming of the things to come, never looking backwards, but also never feeling settled in the present.
I guess I am more of a look-to-the-future-type girl. My life has always been marked by daydreaming and wondering about the “what ifs” and the “somedays.”
Yet, here I sit typing a blog I had never intended on starting, having a third baby I wasn’t sure I wanted, spending my days as a stay home mom-a position, at one time, I wholeheartedly resisted.
You would think daydreaming about tomorrow would be my solace, my sanity, my refuge. But the more I try to conjure up visions of the future, the more right now seems less appealing and less satisfying.
God is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. But lately, He wants to impress upon me something more. There is another side to Him that I keep missing.
He is also the God of Now.
Yes, God forgave me of my past. And He is also my hope and promise for the future, but what about right now? Today? This very second?
What if there is a third type of person, the type of person Jesus was and is, the type of person God wants to shape in me. This third person is uniquely capable of being content and satisfied in all circumstances, not tomorrow, but right now.
Paul was this type of person.
“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:10
I have read over this verse so many times, desperate for the secret to Paul’s contentment. I have read commentary trying to unravel the mystery of his constant daily satisfaction.
More than that, Paul was not simply content in all things-he also was also striving onward and forward to the call of Christ Jesus.
My husband has a saying that I think puts this balance so well: “There is a constant balance between thankfulness for the past, contentedness with what you have, and striving for what could be.”
I want that balance, but how…
How do I become that third kind of person? How do I neither dwell in the past nor look only to the future? How do I allow God to fulfill me now, in the present, in this very moment, whether the “what ifs” and the “somedays” ever happen or not?
Upon reading Paul’s verse again and again, it becomes clear that there is only one answer: Jesus Christ.
It is in Jesus, through Jesus, because of Jesus, with Jesus, that we can find contentment. And don’t we all know this is true, whether we live it out or not.
I know that when my eyes are fixed on Him, other things simply fall into the background. Everything else fades compared to Him. All else is dim and gray in light of His Light. Contentment is a by-product of abiding in Him. And contentment comes in the now, not in our yesterdays or somedays.
Now I guess I’ll be working on the abiding in Him part…and not focus on yesterday or tomorrow as much as I focus solely on Jesus…and the simplicity of knowing Him right now.
Do you find you are a person who looks more to the past, present, or future? Have you achieved true contentment?
