I have always believed I need to “be in the moment.” Have a heart filled with gratitude. Focus on the here and now.
But what if you don’t like the here and now? What if a loved one recently died? What if you are in a place where you are miserable? What if you don’t like where you live or you don’t like where you work, or your boss is horrible to you or your coworker hates you so the here and now is awful? What if you do not want to focus on the here and now and mustering gratitude feels like an impossible feat?
Pastor Steve said something a few weeks ago that made my heart feel like it was doing back handsprings. He said, “When you are trying to find God’s will, until you know what it is, do the next right thing. Do the next right thing in front of you, then after that, do the next right thing. And after that, do the next right thing.”
See the theme there? We have to focus on doing the next right thing. Over and over until it becomes a habit. When we are truly trying to walk with The Holy Spirit guiding us, we will automatically do the next right thing. Terry and I got a really ugly email once from someone, and I wanted to fire off a reply, “Yeah, well you are disgusting and a liar and a thief, and your face is big and ugly.”
Yep. That’s not exactly doing the next right thing, is it? I did not send a reply to that email because I would have loved saying it in the moment, but would have immediately regretted being nasty and unkind. Stooping to someone’s ugly level only makes us ugly. Stooping is not doing the next right thing.
Doing the next right thing is not always easy, but it is always right.
“For great is your love toward me, you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.” - Psalm 86:13 (NIV)
For so many years, I was absolutely miserable in my day to day life. All I could do was focus on doing what was best for my precious Michala, and “getting through the day.” I was incapable of looking ahead, getting excited for the possibilities of what was to come. It was more of a, “one foot in front of the other,” mindset, and getting through the day at hand was the very best I could do. The next day was a repeat of the day before, “just getting through the day.”
We will all go through periods in our lives where focusing on the here and now is just too depressing to manage. It is okay to look ahead into the future. In fact, we need to do so, because the future is exciting! The Psalm above is a reminder: God delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead. When we are in our depths … the pits; the lowest of the lows; God delivers us. During these times of deep sadness and misery, we have to train our brain to cling to the promises of God’s deliverance.
Let’s read it one more time. “For great is your love toward me, you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.” - Psalm 86:13.
Now, this time, pray this prayer, “Oh Papa. I know you love me. For great is your love toward me. You have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead. You did this because you love me so much. Please, when I cannot focus on the here and now, remind me that you never lie to me. You never cheat me out of what is mine. You never steal from me or withhold Your goodness and mercy. Help me to remember great is Your love toward me, and You will deliver me from the depths of any current misery. I love You so very much, Papa. Thank You for loving me beyond my wildest dreams. I know when I focus on doing the next right thing, the best is yet to come. Thank you for that promise. In the precious name of Jesus I pray, Amen.”
Today might be hard for you, and I get it. But from this moment on, do the next right thing. And after that, do the next right thing. Baby steps. Do the next right thing. And as one day ends and you take in the sunset, remember His promises and trust the best is yet to come.