Day 142 - Here and Now

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Sometimes when I listen to music of any kind I get drawn to a word or a phrase that really gets me to thinking. This is especially the case with worship music.

One Sunday our worship leaders played the song, "At The Cross" by Chris Tomlin. One of the chorus' repeats a word over and over again. That word is "here." On that particular day the word "here" really was speaking to me. The more I thought about what that word meant the more my victor status came into focus as I let the "here" in my life overwhelm the victim thinking ways that come with thinking of anything other than "here."

Right here and right now, this is our destiny. What happened in the past, even a few seconds ago is gone. What will happen in the future can't be guaranteed. All we have with respect to making destiny happen is in the right here and right now. That's what was hitting me so hard when I heard that chorus from Chris' song.

I remember my mother saying that I shouldn't wish my life away. She was responding to my many bouts of looking forward to a certain circumstance happening on a future date. When I would say; "I can't wait for next week to come." she would remind me to live in the here and now saying, "Don't wish your life away."

I have to be honest, those words seemed pretty ridiculous to me at that time. As I now realize how fast time is slipping by I cherish those words of wisdom and work to live in the moment more these days. Here is all we really have so why not enjoy our here as much as we can. Destiny is experienced in the here and now, not in the past nor in the future.

Reality is that our here and now destiny might literally stink! When circumstances at this moment are not what you would ever want in your life, destiny can seem to be such a cruel and hurtful prospect. Enjoying the here and now when bad times hit can be quickly replaced by wishing for something different in the future. It is when we face a stinking destiny that time can be such an enemy for the person trying to live out a victor's life.

When it comes to a stinking destiny, we are in good company. Jesus faced a stinking destiny when it came to the cross. His here and now included torture, suffering, rejection and ultimately death. Don't you know Jesus was tempted to want something more as He suffered on the cross for you and for me?

Yet in the middle of His crucifixion, Jesus allowed the here and now to linger in ways that made a difference in the lives of those all around Him suffering in their own ways. Check out one of today's Bible verses for how Jesus used his here and now to change our world.

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34 (NIV)

In the middle of His suffering, Jesus let us know what He was doing on the cross. He was ushering in forgiveness for all who were alive at that time and all who live in our here and now. Jesus could have been so preoccupied with getting out of the suffering He faced that those words might have never been uttered. We have a record of Jesus' purpose for life and for His death because He let His stinking destiny be all it could rather than hoping for something different and better.

Sometimes the bad situations that come against us are but a prelude of something greater that is happening around us that is just too far above our pay-grade to really understand. When bad times hit it is a good idea to pay attention to what is going on around us so that we don't miss the miracles that are happening all around.

Jesus' next words were to a man hanging on a cross right next to Him. This man defended Jesus from the attacks of another suffering to death for his crimes and from the attacks from those watching this brutality take place. The man asked Jesus to remember Him when this life passed and Christ said the following;

Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."Luke 23:43 (NIV)

As Jesus suffered, He let His stinking destiny be a time that gave great hope to a fellow sufferer. Don't you know that man who heard those words had a new found hope that made his stinking destiny something he could tolerate too?

Sometimes we go through horrible times in order to be a comfort to someone who might be suffering just as badly as we are but doesn't have the benefit of perspective like we have in our lives. Don't you know Jesus' portrayal on what was coming next was a welcome prospect for that man hanging on the cross next to Jesus? By staying focused on our here and now, even in the bad times, we might be in a better position to see how God is using us to make the challenging times someone else is facing something they can rise above.

Then Jesus sees His mother standing there watching this travesty take place. Our last Bible verse of the day highlights how Jesus staying focused on the here and now made a difference in the lives of those He loved.

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19:26-27 (NIV)

One of Jesus' last words is directed at two of His closest people, Mary and the apostle John. Jesus knew how much it must have hurt His mom to see Him suffer so. Jesus allowed Himself to remain in His stinking destiny long enough to make sure His mother was cared for by someone Jesus trusted. John, who understood the power of God's love for us all, was blessed to be adopted into a royal family buy becoming a son to Mary.

Sometimes it is in the bad times that our hearts break for those closest to us in ways that just doesn't happen when times are going well in our lives. Jesus let his here and now be something that made a difference for those closest to Him in a way that could have easily have been missed if Jesus didn't let his stinking destiny do an amazing work around Him.

I don't know what your destiny looks like right at this moment. I highly doubt that it is as dire as the stinking destiny Jesus faced hanging on the cross. No matter how good or how bad your destiny is right now, remember this, the next moment is just around the corner. We don't know what the next moment holds. For Jesus, his next moment was paradise. Our next moment might be just as glorious - we have no way of knowing!

We as victors need to be living in the reality that as for this moment, this is our destiny! That fact has the power to change the world. Hang on in the bad times. There is power in the fact God is with us. That the circumstance isn't changing isn't a reflection on our walk with Him nor is it a sentence of condemnation. It just might be you were made for this moment. Hang on because the next one is just around the corner.