Stop Waiting, Start Living

We wait for tonight…
We wait for tomorrow…
We wait for next week…
We wait for next year….
Yet, we only have this moment.
Stop waiting, and start living.

I myself am so guilty of this at times. I LOVE summer and feel like I wait all year for it. Yet, then when it gets here, it isn’t always exactly like I planned in my mind. The reality doesn’t always match the expectation.  I am tired of living for expectations or living for the future.

The truth is, the future is here. Minute by minute we are living it. God never promised us tomorrow. He never promised us one more breath. The only one we can be sure of is the breath we are taking at this moment.

The world always makes us feel like there is better ahead. Yet, God tells us specifically not to worry about tomorrow. 

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own. “

Matthew 6:34

Today is all we are guaranteed. Life changes from one moment to the next. I don’t want to always wish for something better, because I may miss out on the present.

My husband teases me that I spend time worrying about things that will happen and then looking back I realized I have just wasted time. It is also true of always waiting for something better. We are missing out on what is right before us…

Right now, right before me is a four-year-old who just wants me to play trains or a 12-year-old who wants me to brush her hair. Why, oh why would I pass those things up? Why wouldn’t I embrace that and enjoy the moment? Sometimes I am too busy looking to the future, and I am missing the present.

I want to stop looking ahead for fulfillment. We are fulfilled with ALL we need at the moment Christ takes residence in us. We need not think one more moment or one more year, or one more summer will bring more fulfillment. We are complete in Christ.

Oh Lord, break me of my eyes always in the future. Remind me of this moment. I have all I need right here and right now. I don’t know what tomorrow brings. Let me not always live for the expectation, but find true contentment in this moment alone.  

I need to trust God to show me one moment at a time what is next. And to rest knowing I am complete in this moment in Him.

I am not saying don’t plan for the future. What I am saying is, don’t live for it, or live in it. Live in the now. Enjoy this moment, and trust God to take care of tomorrow. 

 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” 

Matthew 6:33