Here and now

Apparently I'm in a blogging mood this morning.  Or, more accurately, a reflective mood in which God is reminding me of His provision, hope, promise.

A few weeks ago I attended a funeral at which the family shared the deceased's philosphy on forks.  "Keep your fork, for the best is yet to come!"

Yet though we cling to the promise of eternity, we live in today.  So often, especially during the last few weeks as I wrap up my undergrad career, I've found myself dreaming about the future, trying to figure out next steps and where God's going to take me on this next chapter of life.

As I sat through the funeral hearing testimony after testimony of how this man had impacted the lives of so many, I dreamed of Africa.  "Papa, I don't want to waste this day.  I don't want to sit by and enrich my mind while my babies go unloved, uncared for."

Then patiently God reminded me of the here and now.  "My child, I have you here for a reason.  It's not a mistake, not a waste.  I'm not simply preparing you for the future.  I've given you a ministry, not just in the future, but now.  Right now, right where I have you, I have plans for you, plans to use you.  I have given you a ministry here.  Don't miss the opportunities of today by dreaming about the future.  Trust Me.  Trust my plan for you.  Daughter, not my plan for you 10 years from now, but my plan for you for today.  For now.  For this moment."

How quickly I forget.  LORD, you've given me this minstry.  You've given me the opportunity to obtain an education not just to stretch my mind but also to grow me in Your truth and to be used to show others Your truth, love, and justice.  It is because of You, not because of my own doing, that I have been put in a position of leadership, because of You that I have been given such influence.  Forgive me, LORD.  Forgive me for squandering the gifts and opportunities that You've given me.  Forgive me for getting so lost in the future that I loose sight of today.  Forgive me for growing weary in doing good.

Ultimately, my heart is in Africa.  I've had a taste of ministry there, and I long for more.  Nothing could make me happier than using my savings to by a plane ticket and return to my kiddos over there.  But that's not where God has me.  Not yet.  For whatever reason He's put on my heart a desire and opportunity to further my schooling.  It seems that His plan is to keep me Stateside a few more years.  He has things that He will teach me here.  He has ways that He's going to use me here.

And not just after graduation.  Here and now.  He has plans for me for this week.  Plans for this day.  Plans for this moment.  LORD, lead me in the paths of Your truth.  Don't let me give into the temptation of checking out.  You have a plan in this too, in the small things as well as the big.  Where You lead me, LORD, I will follow.  Not just in the future, but today, in this very moment. 

Plans

About a week ago, one of the women in my section asked me to write an article for our school paper reflecting on my time here at CU, about how I've grown and how the campus has changed me.  I don't know if I wrote quite what she was looking for, but it speaks the truth of the past four years.  What an incredible reminder of what God has done for and through me over the past four years!  And the timing of such a reminder couldn't have come at a better time as I face a future of questions and unknowns.  But I rest in knowing that my God is bigger than all of my fears, that He has a plan for me, and that His plan is greater than I could ever imagine!  Where You lead, LORD.  Where You Lead.

Hope

I needed this reminder this morning.  Perhaps you do too.  :-)

A healthy body

Ephesians 4
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”[b]
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
 That, however, is not the way of life you learned  when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;  to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,  and do not give the devil a foothold.  Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,  that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—  I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17:20-23