‘So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigour are meaningless.’ (v10) Ecclesiastes 11:7–10
Jesus tells us to live in the moment (Matt. 6:34). Learning to do so is a skill that takes time to develop. Too often we can miss the present moment because we’re consumed with past regrets or future worries.
Many of us experience anxiety, the worst part of which is our inability to shift it from dominating our waking hours. It can consume our very existence and can require professional support so that it doesn’t destroy us.
The simple way Jesus approached life is something we can aspire to. There is little we can do to reverse past experience. We are forced to face today in the light of our past experiences. These can act as a drag anchor on the progress of the life we anticipated. But they don’t need to rob us of encountering hope in the reality of our present, and indeed an as yet unrealised future.
A life without problems is a Hollywood fantasy. There’s a shortage of princes and superheroes. Yet, we can discover that God has placed within us, through the Spirit, all the resources we require to become the superhero of our own narrative, the champion to both family, friends and neighbours.
A rich and fulfilled life owes little to natural advantage and everything to the promise of God and our willingness and ability to lay hold of this in the present reality of every moment we encounter.
RELATED SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Gen. 22:1–19; Isa. 43:16–21; Phil. 3:7–14; 2 Tim. 1:6–14.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: How do you react when you don’t know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going? Can you find the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and then embrace them with courage, faith and hope.
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, help me to trust in this moment that You are present with me and that I will see Your goodness. Amen.’
Photo by Fuu J on Unsplash
