Timescape

I could hear the little finch, but couldn’t see him clearly. He was jumping around near the top of the tree, and I was getting frustrated trying to get him in frame. Then I felt God’s presence. He told me to enjoy the moment, instead of being obsessed with trying to capture it. I’m skilled at turning wonderful experiences into stressful tasks, so His words weren’t easy. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and relaxed my shoulders. I told Jesus I was giving Him the moment, letting Him define it instead of my old mindset. In His peace, I opened my eyes. I could feel His joy in the bright sky, blossoming tree, and the beautiful bird. And then the little guy smiled for the camera.

Every day you time travel to deal with your life. You view your circumstances, relationships, thoughts, and emotions through past experience, or you see everything with future hope. Going to the past is easy. All you have to do is stop moving forward and look back, until you’re wallowing in your old self—stuck in old habits, thoughts, and emotions. If you can do it with some degree of bitterness, fear, or despair, you’ll get there even faster.

Going to the future seems harder because it’s unknown. The only frame of reference you have is who God says He wants to be for you, and who He says you are becoming in Him. But that’s all you need. It does mean trusting Him with everything in your present, letting go of both your fear of what might happen, and your pride in what you think should. This is why the gate Jesus invites us through is narrow (Matt 7). Not because it’s exclusive of people, but because it’s exclusive of what you can bring with you. He is transforming you into the person He sees you as—whole, strong, confident, and joyful. The junk from your past doesn’t fit into that picture.

So, which direction are you headed today?

“For I know the plans that I purpose for you, says the Lord: not one of misery, but all of peace, wholeness, and prosperity, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29.11).