Living for Today: Guest Post by Lindsay Harrel

Posted on June 12, 2013 | 16 comments

Oh, friends. It is such a joy to introduce to you today dear Lindsay Harrel. She is talented, warm, wise, and oh-so-encouraging! When she agreed to share a guest post here, I couldn’t have been more delighted– or at least that’s what I thought. Until I opened up the file containing her guest post, and was delighted all over again and on a deeper heart-level, for her words both bolstered and convicted me. I hope you find encouragement in them, too.

So… meet Lindsay!

I have a big problem. Like, mondo.

I’m always thinking about the future.

Some people are past dwellers. Not me. I live in the future, always thinking about what’s next. Now, to a certain extent, this is just fine. If we didn’t prepare for the future, or have any goals or ambitions, I don’t think we’d necessarily be the best stewards of everything God has given us.

But I do more than that. I plan, yes. I set out steps to reach my goals, yes.

But sometimes, I also ache for the future.

Unfortunately, I’m not talking my eternal future, either. If I was, that’d be okay too.

No, what I’m referring to is plain ol’ dissatisfaction. Discontentment with where God has me and the path He’s asked me to walk. Hunger for…more.

I obsess about the things I can’t change. I long for the things I don’t yet have. Things like being a mother. Being out of debt. Being a published author.

And I think, “If only…then, I’ll be happy.”

When I really think of it in those terms, I want to kick myself. Because I know no situation or circumstance will make me happy. Okay, maybe happy temporarily. There’s the high of the FINALLY!

But then, slowly, inevitably, there’s the letdown. And with the letdown comes a new goal, a new dream, a new hunger.

A hunger that is never, ever satisfied.

Unless the hunger is directed at God. At knowing Him. At resting in what He has for us right now.

Because when I look to the future with such aching and longing, I focus all of my energy THERE. Not HERE. Not now. I squander the days I have until that future happens. And what if it never happens? Will I be hungry all my days?

None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Or next week. Or next year. I’m not saying this to be morbid, not at all. We can’t live our lives in fear – but the thought that our days are limited, and precious, should challenge us to DO SOMETHING with TODAY.

I don’t want to waste today thinking – and worrying – about tomorrow.

I want to embrace it, with all its flaws, and longings, and heartaches, and ask God to make something beautiful out of it.

Even if the present, right now, for me, means waiting.

There’s patience to be learned. There are people to invest in. Ways I can better myself. So much to learn about God.

Today is brilliantly loaded with potential.

Let’s live for it, and in doing that, live for God.

Your Turn: Do you ever have trouble with living in the future? How do you focus on today? What’s one thing you can do today to live it for God and make a difference?

Biography:
Since the age of six, when she wrote the riveting tale “How to Eat Mud Pie,” Lindsay Harrel has passionately engaged the written word as a reader, writer, and editor. She has a bachelor’s in journalism and a master’s in English. She is a semifinalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers contemporary category for 2013, and is published in the Falling in Love with You anthology released by OakTara in October 2012. Lindsay lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband of six years and two golden retriever puppies in serious need of training. Connect with her on her blog or via Facebook or Twitter (@LindsayHarrel).