“SEIZE THE DAY!”

I confess that I am guilty of using phrases like, “should of”, “If only”, “could have”, etc. way too much. This means, I am living in the past. I also confess that I live too much of my life in the future. Unfortunately, if most of my time is spent wondering if I should have made a different decision in the past, and hoping and praying about the decision I have to make next month, TODAY is lost. I am trying (after all these years) to learn to “embrace the moment”. Carpe Diem….”Seize the Day.”
Lately, I have found myself in conversations with my wife, one of my children or a friend talking about this subject. It’s so easy to second guess ourselves on what we did or said yesterday or we find ourselves waiting for the “miracle check” in the mail, (hopefully coming tomorrow) that will change everything. I realized that I am not living in the moment. God is in the moment! He is with you…, RIGHT NOW! Yes, He is in your past and He is in your future. He holds your future in His hands. But let’s not forget that God has something for you, for me, in this day….in this moment.
A friend sent something to me yesterday that I would like to share with you. Here is an excerpt of the letter:
Read something recently from a book called “the Shelter of the Most High” that I thought was kind of interesting & I’d share. There’s a chapter in there entitled “The Valley of Fruitfulness”. Quoting from 1 Kings 20:28, the author wrote (various extracts):
No matter what the enemy tries to tell you, Christ is God of the mountains AND God of the valleys. He has not stopped being God because you happen to be in a valley. In fact, these valleys are often as much the plan of God as our mountaintop experiences.
When we are on the “mountaintops” of our Christian experience, we can see our future clearly. We have perspective & confidence. When we are in one of life’s valleys, however our vision is limited & our future seems hidden. Yet valleys are also the most fertile places on earth. Valleys produce fruitfulness. You can expect there to be a harvest of virtue when God dwells with you in the valleys.
From Ps 84:5-6, each of us has times of weeping when our hearts & hopes seem crushed. Because God has placed in our hearts “highways to Zion”, however, we pass through valleys; we do not live in them. Once we are on the other side of weeping, our Redeemer makes our valley experience into “a spring”. The very things that overwhelmed us will, in time, refresh us with new life.
Consider Gen. 41:52. God made Joseph fruitful in the very things that afflicted him. In the land of your affliction, your battle, is the place where God will make you fruitful. Just as He allowed Joseph to go through many trials, so He allows us to go through great conflicts as well. For He knows that our lives - what we have become through His grace - will help others find the shelter of the Most High God in their lives.
Consider even now the area of greatest affliction in your life. In that area God will make you fruitful in such a way that your heart will be fully satisfied & God’s heart fully glorified. Ultimately, the Lord will touch many other with the substance of what you have gained. In a world that is superficial, Christ will produce something within you that is deep & living.
God has not promised to keep us from valleys & sufferings but He has promised to make us fruitful in them. Without a doubt we each will pass through valleys before we reach our final goal in God. As we remain faithful to Him in trails, the character & nature of Christ Jesus will emerge in our spirits; & Christ will be revealed to those around us. He intends to make your life a key that unlocks God’s shelter for others.
I trust this will bless you today. No matter what you are facing, remember that God has not forsaken you, He has not forgotten you, He is there with you right now in the middle of the night, in the middle of the storm, in the valley.
This is my prayer today. “Lord, forgive me for living in the past or waiting for the future. Help me embrace this moment, this day. I believe You have something special for me to learn this day. Through the storm, in the darkest night, in the deepest valley, You are with me, You will sustain me. Be glorified through my life this day. Help me see You in every situation, and if I can’t see You, increase my faith so I can trust you through the darkness, through the silence and know, by faith, that You are with me. I give you praise for all You have done for me and for all You are doing today! In Jesus’ Name…..amen.”
God bless you, my friend.
Hope this connects with some of you.