SPENDING
a Sabbath-moment resting in the glory of God; he speaks! He speaks through his Spirit into my soul
when I slow down enough to breathe — and
ask. What better ask is there of a
soul desiring God, asking with no particular intent other than, “God, speak!”
Here’s
one ‘program’ of thought his Holy Spirit ushered through me:
Three
ways to enjoy today:
1.
Be intensely grateful for yesterday.
2.
Be intently hopeful for tomorrow.
3.
Be interested in the present.
***
Being Intensely Grateful
Gratitude
creates joy and the more grateful we are the more joy we can experience.
When
we focus mindfully on even one aspect of yesterday we are grateful for, we practice
an intensity that infuses thankfulness for that one blessing.
Being
intensely grateful entreats the reality of eternity. It draws us into God’s realm. It makes us available to the experience of
his Presence in our moment. Being
grateful with intensity makes it possible that we might weep for just how good
God is.
Joy
is consummate when tears flow, and chins quiver, for how good God has been.
Being Intently Hopeful
We
cannot control many of the things that occur to us in this life, but we can be intently
hopeful overall. We can institute such
control over our future as to be expectant that goodness will lead us and be
our rear guard all the days of our lives.
This
is not about an absence of loss; it’s more about knowing God is with us even in
spite of the grief we experience. We see
that we can be hopeful even in the presence of pain. Indeed, the legs of hope are stretched and
ready to run when we’re most pressed by life — that’s how it ought to be.
Being
intently hopeful notwithstanding the circumstance stretches us out into the
farthest reaches of faith.
Being Mindfully Interested
So
much is achieved toward the bounty of joy when we simply commit to being
interested. Being interested is being
mindful — the fullest engagement of our minds on the living to be done in the
moment.
Each
moment calls us to a certain situation.
Ours is to allow the moment its time; even (especially) if the moment is
something we’re not enjoying. Being
mindful is the practice of stripping away distractions that would dilute our
focus on the present. Activities we
don’t enjoy will be more enjoyable.
And
the truth is, with God, we can bear the moment.
Actually, when we’re mindfully interested in our moment — no matter how
good or bad it is — God takes us out of ourselves, he makes us reflective, and
we gain the perspective of the Lord.
The
present moment is pregnant with possibility for the Presence of God to meet us.
***
Life is enjoyed simply
in being intensely grateful for yesterday, intently hopeful for tomorrow, and
in being mindfully interested in the present.
The opportunity
to glorify God is salient in being thankfully joyous, and the blessings of God
are potent when we do just that.
Today’s purpose
is to magnify the glory of the majesty of God.
There is no better way than by an uncomplicated joy. And the more we’re bound to the constraints
of struggle or suffering, the more glory goes to God in seeking to practice joy
now, anyway.
© 2016 Steve Wickham.
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