NOW

It has been too long since my last published post. I say published post because I did write some things that I just didn't publish. Chalk it up to therapy...

Anyway, since my last post, a lot has happened on our planet. We have seen major damage from Haiti and Chile, watched our own country battle in partisan politics, crowned an unlikely Superbowl champion, and I had a friend and mentor make a major move in ministry. All of those events are on different levels, and bring about different emotions. But to those who were directly involved in the "NOW" of those events, they were life changing. They didn't happen because of a focus on their "now", but rather a focus on their future. Let me explain.

When David's sheep serenade was interrupted by a call from home to come and meet the prophet, he had no idea the implications that his trotting down that dusty animal path would bring. He arrived home to a family that was in disappointment (face it, they all wanted to be king, and dad wanted a rockstar on the throne, not the shepherd) and probably a bit of denial. As Samuel anointed David as the next King, David didn't jump right into leadership. He still had time left in the field and in service in the castle. Years would pass, threats placed on his life, and he would live in exile before living in the Palace. If David had focused on his "now", he would have failed in obedience far before Bathsheba. Instead, he focused on God's goal for him, His prize, His future. He worked diligently in his "now" slaying the occasional lion, bear, or giant, all the time knowing his tomorrow had a different outlook because God had already laid it out.

You know there must have been days of insecurity and question. Wondering if his mentor had just missed it a bit, and overshot his potential. There must have been days when he questioned the dream of his heart, the dream placed their by his Heavenly Father and not understood by his earthly father. Alone times. Exile. Discouragement. This is where the dream, the promise either flops or flourishes. I think the difference is our focus. Are we focused on our now, or on our our promise. On our tomorrow!

John the Baptist had this experience as well. In Matthew 11, he asks a heart wrenching question:

1.When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

^{2 e}Now when John heard ^fin prison about the deeds of ^gthe Christ, he sent word by ^hhis disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you ⁱthe one who is to come, or shall we ^jlook for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ^{5 k}the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers¹ are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and ^lthe poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who ^mis not offended by me.”

The man who jumped in Jesus presence...while still in the womb, was asking Jesus if "He was the One, or should we look for another?" This was family! The guy who saw the trinity reveal itself at the same time during his church service in the river. How did he get to that point?

John was in prison with death imminent. He was focussing on his "NOW" and Jesus refocuses him on the future. Jesus tells him about all the things that are happening that he cannot see because of his circumstances and emotion.

Where is your focus? Feel like you are just not where God promised? Quit focusing on your now, and grab hold of the vision and hope of tomorrow! God's already there.