Living In The Moment

[Brad D.]

Therefore take no thought of your life... Look at the birds of the air neither sowing nor reaping... (Matthew 6:25-26)

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.

(Matthew 6:34)​

I passed a sapling along one of the pathways I walk sometime just the other day. My, winter is upon us here, and he seemed so small and frail. He was a Spruce of some sort the city had planted. He was very handsome, but my goodness he couldn't have been 4 feet tall.

I stopped to look at him a while. And tried to give him an encouraging word, "Hang in there little guy, you'll be big and strong soon!" But I thought of the time it takes for a spruce to be fully grown, and breathed a sigh.

A slight breeze rustled through his little boughs. The day was very still. And he seemed to smile and say. "Don't worry about me sir. I'm in good hands." I said, "Yes, I know, but I do worry though, you are very small, and seem to have a terribly long way to go."

I could not break the little guy's cheer. He replied, "Trees are very patient you know. We are very still as you might have noticed. We don't move around. We stay where we are planted and trust the processes."

I walked away marveling at his good cheer and faith. He could not be anything more than what he was in the moment. He could not add one thing to his day that had not already been given. He could not be the 60 foot magnificent tree he would become. He could only be the 4 foot sapling he was today.

He could not worry about tomorrow whether it would all work out. What if the winter was too cold and bitter and he was too young to survive? What if winds came and storms beat down and he was too small to stand? What if the rains stopped, the droughts came, the sun beat down, he was forgotten about, and he withered and died? What if pestilence struck, and insects chewed, and nutrients depleted, and .....? No, none of it moved him. He was trusting the processes.

I think about him this morning. I woke up it is 3 below zero outside with 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. I wonder how he is? Is he still cheerful? I think so. I think He would say. "It is what it is sir. I am who I am. The day is what it is. I'll get there sir. Don't you worry about me. I'm trusting the processes you see. It'll all turn out. You'll see. And sir. Even if doesn't, even if I should die before my time, or lightning strikes, or hail comes and I am never quite the same again. Even then sir I will praise Him. And joy in who He created to me to be."

You know. I think he just will. Maybe we should too.

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on the high hills.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

 

[public hermit]

Therefore take no thought of your life... Look at the birds of the air neither sowing nor reaping... (Matthew 6:25-26)

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.

(Matthew 6:34)​

I passed a sapling along one of the pathways I walk sometime just the other day. My, winter is upon us here, and he seemed so small and frail. He was a Spruce of some sort the city had planted. He was very handsome, but my goodness he couldn't have been 4 feet tall.

I stopped to look at him a while. And tried to give him an encouraging word, "Hang in there little guy, you'll be big and strong soon!" But I thought of the time it takes for a spruce to be fully grown, and breathed a sigh.

A slight breeze rustled through his little boughs. The day was very still. And he seemed to smile and say. "Don't worry about me sir. I'm in good hands." I said, "Yes, I know, but I do worry though, you are very small, and seem to have a terribly long way to go."

I could not break the little guy's cheer. He replied, "Trees are very patient you know. We are very still as you might have noticed. We don't move around. We stay where we are planted and trust the processes."

I walked away marveling at his good cheer and faith. He could not be anything more than what he was in the moment. He could not add one thing to his day that had not already been given. He could not be the 60 foot magnificent tree he would become. He could only be the 4 foot sapling he was today.

He could not worry about tomorrow whether it would all work out. What if the winter was too cold and bitter and he was too young to survive? What if winds came and storms beat down and he was too small to stand? What if the rains stopped, the droughts came, the sun beat down, he was forgotten about, and he withered and died? What if pestilence struck, and insects chewed, and nutrients depleted, and .....? No, none of it moved him. He was trusting the processes.

I think about him this morning. I woke up it is 3 below zero outside with 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. I wonder how he is? Is he still cheerful? I think so. I think He would say. "It is what it is sir. I am who I am. The day is what it is. I'll get there sir. Don't you worry about me. I'm trusting the processes you see. It'll all turn out. You'll see. And sir. Even if doesn't, even if I should die before my time, or lightning strikes, or hail comes and I am never quite the same again. Even then sir I will praise Him. And joy in who He created to me to be."

You know. I think he just will. Maybe we should too.

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on the high hills.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Great post. We create so much strife for ourselves because we refuse to live in the moment God has given us. All the resentment, regret, fear, and worry are not for us, but we seem to love it more than the simplicity of what we are given in each moment.

 

[Brad D.]

Great post. We create so much strife for ourselves because we refuse to live in the moment God has given us. All the resentment, regret, fear, and worry are not for us, but we seem to love it more than the simplicity of what we are given in each moment.

I really am thankful for your encouragement. Illness and the cold are pressing in on me this morning. So thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really like your forum name by the way. One of the best out there. I have described my own life at times as my appointed hermitage. For 10 years before coming here and posting some things on CF I sat in silence and prayer restrained by God from doing or speaking a word. The discipline of quietness and nothingness is lost to Christianity in a large part today. We are emptied there. We are nothing. He must become our all. But I think there are things that move Him there, things that happen in such places that move Him more than the clamor of all the megachurches in the world. IMHO How much longer I have to write here I do not know. But it's good to come out and say hello. It's good to know people know who Julian of Norwich is.

So yes, yesterday is gone, tomorrow has yet to come. It is good to be still, sit in the fire, and praise Him.
May you be blessed today for your kindness!!

And thank you to the little Spruce. My friend and preacher.

 

[public hermit]

The discipline of quietness and nothingness is lost to Christianity in a large part today.

I absolutely agree.

 

[Ahermit]

If we all believed we were okay regardless, we would be living a life without blame; no issues or agendas. All that would be left is unconditional love. Fear is our foe. Fear, such as doubt, compares one moment with another. Faith shields us as we face our fears, so we can be free to 'know' the truth of the moment.

 

[Brad D.]

If we all believed we were okay regardless, we would be living a life without blame; no issues or agendas. All that would be left is unconditional love. Fear is our foe. Fear, such as doubt, compares one moment with another. Faith shields us as we face our fears, so we can be free to 'know' the truth of the moment.

Beautiful! You are so right of course. Every moment has the power in it to cast us down or lift us up. It matters not the circumstance, just where we are looking. I also like the aspect of humility in it. Behind every doubt and comparison and discontentment and fear there always seems to be an element of self. Where that ends, love often begins. And when His love breaks us free, joy is soon to follow. Thank you so much for your post!

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Like most things it is a matter of balance. Jesus also says,

Luke 14:28-33
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

But where do we draw the line between due diligence and worry? That is my struggle. It is always good to have a contingency plan but we can't plan for EVERYTHING.

Insurance is a good example. We can have life insurance in case we die and LT Care insurance in case we live too long.

 

[Brad D.]

Like most things it is a matter of balance. Jesus also says,

Luke 14:28-33
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

But where do we draw the line between due diligence and worry? That is my struggle. It is always good to have a contingency plan but we can't plan for EVERYTHING.

Insurance is a good example. We can have life insurance in case we die and LT Care insurance in case we live too long.

Thank you so much for for your Post! Your questions are honest and forthright, needed, and good to discuss.

Our due diligence is to the Spirit, not to the unknown. He is the one who appoints the seasons in our life, and orders them to be done and worked through in their own time. Our life is not a life of complacency, but it is a life of rest.

There was no greater work to be done than the work Christ came to do on this earth. But, yet, it took Him 33 years to do that work. He always seemed to know His fate. Jerusalem and His destiny were always in His forward vision, but yet He always lived in the moment. " I do nothing out of my own initiative, only what I see the Father doing." He could not be in Jerusalem hanging on the cross, when He was scheduled to have a divine appointment with a Samaritan woman beside the well.

Life is full of such processes. I know what it is like to be without both life and health insurance, and what it is to have them which I currently do. But What makes a matter right to me is not if it seems wise or unwise, but does is it have its origins in Him. A contingency plan in fear is disastrous, but a life decision in faith is divine.

All practical matters should be viewed in that way in my opinion. They are simply tools in God's hands to complete His ends. Nothing more nothing less. What does this have to do with Christ? Is this His appointed time and place. And once we apprehend His mind on that, then we take a step toward that tower and begin day one to build it no matter the cost. And likewise we head out to Jerusalem knowing when we get there only a cross and a murderous crowd await. Or we buy that life insurance policy because we are filled with peace it is time. The only thing that makes any of those things righteous or wise for that matter is not what they are in of themselves, but what they are in Him.

Jesus I believe always looked at every practical matter He faced on this earth in that way. He was the most practically and spiritually efficient man who ever lived. He didn't waste one breath in all of His 33 years that wasn't working towards why He came. If we could always look at life that way it would make for our peace. What does this have to do with your ends Father? Then we step out into the day to do what the moment brings. That is all we have. But it is enough. The rest will take care of itself.

I would welcome anymore thoughts, questions are comments you may have. Blessings to you!

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

Trees are very patient you know. I like that line

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

Therefore take no thought of your life... Look at the birds of the air neither sowing nor reaping... (Matthew 6:25-26)

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.

(Matthew 6:3​

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on the high hills.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Amen

 

[GDL]

but we seem to love it more than the simplicity of what we are given in each moment.

A painful truth.

 

[GDL]

The discipline of quietness and nothingness is lost to Christianity in a large part today.

I absolutely agree.

Me too. I began in that quietness and redeemed some good time with Him there. There's a word I learned experientially there during that 7-year period - contentment - and there's nothing like it and we don't know it until we experience it. It's a place of true rest in Him no matter the circumstances. I'm seeking it again. I have more but I have less.

 

[GDL]

Like most things it is a matter of balance. Jesus also says,

Luke 14:28-33
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

But where do we draw the line between due diligence and worry? That is my struggle. It is always good to have a contingency plan but we can't plan for EVERYTHING.

Insurance is a good example. We can have life insurance in case we die and LT Care insurance in case we live too long.

Maybe there's a point where we have no more desires to build towers, but to just relax and let Him build in us what He desires to build. In the post I just posted prior to this one I speak of a time of contentment. I had built & built only to find it almost all lost virtually overnight. In my 3rd to 4th decade, I was forced into a period of existence where I had no clue how I would live. I turned to Him as completely as I knew to.

For the next 7 years I found my needs met as I redeemed the time in His Word full time, mostly all day & into the night, almost every day, and in prayer. I learned what it meant to be content. I rested in Him and fought off the worries and the stuff that comes at us. I had an asset left that I thought I'd be losing with my others. Somehow that asset which I could not see being anything but problems and loss provided everything I needed while I was under instruction for years.

I'm not going to suggest there be no contingency plans in this world, but some say they can also be a lack of faith. I know some who live without those plans. On the one hand I look at them and wonder if they'll be knocking at my door at some point. On the other hand, I consider joining them.

The LTCI is an interesting topic at this point. A few years ago, my dad passed after being in LTC for a few years. He never got used to it, but his needs were such that none of us could provide the care he needed. But the whole system has the normal issues of the world. Annual cost increases that were frankly astounding and unless paid, eviction. Continued heart beats via chemistry intake while progressively needing more & more care & additional chemistry & requiring additional cost increases while the LTCI was fixed rate.

I don't know, Akita, but while this was going on a friend told me how his loved Golden Retriever walked up to him one evening and he knew what she was telling him. His friend then walked out to the beach and laid down and never got back up.

I know we have a lot of considerations and many of us do not want to be a burden to others, so we consider contingency plans. I'd rather walk out to the beach and hopefully not see the sunrise here the next day. So, the considerations continue. When you get it figured out, please pass the wisdom this way.

 

[Brad D.]

Maybe there's a point where we have no more desires to build towers, but to just relax and let Him build in us what He desires to build. In the post I just posted prior to this one I speak of a time of contentment. I had built & built only to find it almost all lost virtually overnight. In my 3rd to 4th decade, I was forced into a period of existence where I had no clue how I would live. I turned to Him as completely as I knew to.

For the next 7 years I found my needs met as I redeemed the time in His Word full time, mostly all day & into the night, almost every day, and in prayer. I learned what it meant to be content. I rested in Him and fought off the worries and the stuff that comes at us. I had an asset left that I thought I'd be losing with my others. Somehow that asset which I could not see being anything put problems and loss provided everything I needed while I was under instruction for years.

I'm not going to suggest there be no contingency plans in this world, but some say they can also be a lack of faith. I know some who live without those plans. On the one hand I look at them and wonder if they'll be knocking at my door at some point. On the other hand, I consider joining them.

The LTCI is an interesting topic at this point. A few years ago, my dad passed after being in LTC for a few years. He never got used to it, but his needs were such that none of us could provide the care he needed. But the whole system has the normal issues of the world. Annual cost increases that were frankly astounding and unless paid, eviction. Continued heart beats via chemistry intake while progressively needing more & more care & additional chemistry & requiring additional cost increases while the LTCI was fixed rate.

I don't know, Akita, but while this was going on a friend told me how his loved Golden Retriever walked up to him one evening and he knew what she was telling him. His friend then walked out to the beach and laid down and never got back up.

I know we have a lot of considerations and many of us do not want to be a burden to others, so we consider contingency plans. I'd rather walk out to the beach and hopefully not see the sunrise here the next day. So, the considerations continue. When you get it figured out, please pass the wisdom this way.

The Processes. Thank you for your beautiful testimony. It was needed in this space. There is a love and a richness there balanced with a humility that only comes through pain and the quite contemplative path of the unknown. I pray akita and all were blessed. I truly was. May the fire of unknowing and humility bring you once again to that place of the sublime. It is a battle every day. I do know. Blessings.

 

[YahuahSaves]

Therefore take no thought of your life... Look at the birds of the air neither sowing nor reaping... (Matthew 6:25-26)

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.

(Matthew 6:34)​

I passed a sapling along one of the pathways I walk sometime just the other day. My, winter is upon us here, and he seemed so small and frail. He was a Spruce of some sort the city had planted. He was very handsome, but my goodness he couldn't have been 4 feet tall.

I stopped to look at him a while. And tried to give him an encouraging word, "Hang in there little guy, you'll be big and strong soon!" But I thought of the time it takes for a spruce to be fully grown, and breathed a sigh.

A slight breeze rustled through his little boughs. The day was very still. And he seemed to smile and say. "Don't worry about me sir. I'm in good hands." I said, "Yes, I know, but I do worry though, you are very small, and seem to have a terribly long way to go."

I could not break the little guy's cheer. He replied, "Trees are very patient you know. We are very still as you might have noticed. We don't move around. We stay where we are planted and trust the processes."

I walked away marveling at his good cheer and faith. He could not be anything more than what he was in the moment. He could not add one thing to his day that had not already been given. He could not be the 60 foot magnificent tree he would become. He could only be the 4 foot sapling he was today.

He could not worry about tomorrow whether it would all work out. What if the winter was too cold and bitter and he was too young to survive? What if winds came and storms beat down and he was too small to stand? What if the rains stopped, the droughts came, the sun beat down, he was forgotten about, and he withered and died? What if pestilence struck, and insects chewed, and nutrients depleted, and .....? No, none of it moved him. He was trusting the processes.

I think about him this morning. I woke up it is 3 below zero outside with 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. I wonder how he is? Is he still cheerful? I think so. I think He would say. "It is what it is sir. I am who I am. The day is what it is. I'll get there sir. Don't you worry about me. I'm trusting the processes you see. It'll all turn out. You'll see. And sir. Even if doesn't, even if I should die before my time, or lightning strikes, or hail comes and I am never quite the same again. Even then sir I will praise Him. And joy in who He created to me to be."

You know. I think he just will. Maybe we should too.

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on the high hills.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Is that something you wrote yourself? You have a way with words.. its so true- love it

 

[Brad D.]

Is that something you wrote yourself? You have a way with words.. its so true- love it

Yes wrote myself from a true encounter and meditations on such of the little Spruce I spoke of I "met" one day along my way. Perhaps I will take a picture of him one day and show everyone the little fellow.