It seems that God has brought a recurring truth into my life. That truth is that I need to keep my focus in the here and now. It is too easy to get caught up in thoughts about where my life is headed in the coming years, months, weeks, and even days. That is not to say that planning is a bad thing and it is necessary but it must always be kept in check. In some ways it seems that college is an exaggerated portion of life where I am not really at home while at the same time I have not really begun a life either. That being the case, I tend to look forward to when I am no longer required to go to class, write papers, and meet Christian ministry requirements; I look forward to when I will be able to apply myself to the studying of God’s Word as I am led and to minister as I am needed. Though it is fine for me to anticipate those things, it is important for me to not miss what God has for me right here, right now.
Some months ago now, my church had a guest speaker by the name of Conrad Mbewe. If you are not familiar with him, he is a pastor from Lusaka, Zambia. He has partnered with Ken Turnbull and a number of other Godly men to start African Christian University. I have even heard him called the Spurgeon of Africa and after hearing him preaching, I can understand why. Since Pastor Mbewe has been in the ministry for well over 20 years, I took the opportunity to ask him what advice he had for a young man entering ministry. I will never forget what he told me. He told me to focus on my day-by-day walk with Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what God has down the road but what God has right now. It was a truly humbling thing for me to hear partly because it is so simple. I so often tend to complicate it by wondering if/when I will go to seminary, if I will pastor a small rural church, if I will end up being a church planter on the other side of the world, and so many other things. Leaving all of those questions unanswered, I must simply conclude that I will live by faith (Gal. 3:11).
Living by faith is a very simple concept yet it is one of the hardest things to practice. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matt. 6:26-27). Jesus’ point is that dwelling upon the things of tomorrow will not change anything. I can sit and think about tomorrow for as long as I want to but that will not change that tomorrow will bring what God ordained it to bring. That is why just a few verses later Jesus said, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [temporal goods] shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). When I look to Christ and what He has for me today, I need not worry about what tomorrow may bring.
It is a tremendous comfort for me to know that I do not have to have it all figured out. I must simply be faithful day by day. It is when I am faithful in the little things of today that God can entrust greater things to me tomorrow (Matt. 25:23).
Well said!
ReplyDelete