I am always horrible at living in the moment. I am quick to pick something further down on my calendar to focus on. I count weeks and days sometimes even months and years into the future, telling myself that if I can just get to that event I will be happy, excited or maybe then I can finally rest. While I have been doing this for years, I am noticing that so many around me are adapting this line of thinking as COVID drags on. I hear people talking about all the things they will do when COVID is over, how life will be so much better then. They may be right and I am certainly not saying you shouldn’t look forward to things in your future, but what are you missing in the meantime? If your thoughts are focused on the future are you paying any attention to right now? Life still goes on whether you are noticing it or not. My kids are still growing and needing my attention today just as much as they will in the future time I am looking forward to. Friends and family members may be in need of your support as much as they ever were. Strangers, neighbors, and friends still need a sense of community and to know that you are there for them.
As monumental as we think the end of COVID will be how much more so did Jesus look forward to His own death and the huge impact that would have on those He loved? I can imagine He missed His father in heaven and was looking forward to joining Him in Heaven. I can imagine as He traveled the land healing people’s physical ailments He was so looking forward to the time when He knew their sins’ debts would be paid in full and He could truly save lives. While it may not be stated very clearly it is speculated, by backdating Biblical events, Jesus was in His thirties before he died on the cross. Can you imagine knowing that you have a huge task to complete with world changing implications but you can’t complete it for thirty years? Here I am sitting and dreaming about the day I can say “this is my last pregnancy,” or “this is the last diaper I ever have to change,” and the Son of God was waiting thirty some years to die in order to save the world. He waited thirty years for the “trip of a lifetime” to heaven.
But Jesus did not spend thirty years sitting at home with Mary and his family watching TV or coming up with new time consuming hobbies to get him by until something more exciting was happening. He went out and looked for ways to help others; He spread the good news that salvation was coming, He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind. Instead of wallowing in self-pity that His time to shine wasn’t here yet He chose to spend the waiting focused on others. I strongly encourage you to read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; they depict the life and death of Jesus. Read for yourself the amazing things Jesus did while He was waiting and then I challenge you to think of what better things you could be doing with your time besides researching that next vacation or daydreaming of better days. You can, despite everything happening, make today a meaningful day. Make cookies and write a card for a neighbor, phone a friend just to chat and see how they are, make it a fun filled loving day for your kids, pray for those who need prayer, donate to an organization in need…
Spending time focused on others is never a waste of time and you might find it to be even more fulfilling that whatever is on your calendar for post COVID.
God bless,
Tasha
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