Responding to the Moment
I made my appointment today for my evaluation at Northern Colorado Rehab for outpatient therapy. I actually have some appointments each day of this next week. So, it will be interesting to see how I fare. I have actually been more fatigued today than I expected. I have been fighting this cough the past week and the loss of rest may be catching up with me.
However, it does feel good in the midst of it all to be feeling stronger and ready for the next step in my rehab process.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive…but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16,17
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27
The abiding presence of God in our lives is an assurance that we see in the ministry of Jesus. As Jesus spoke to His disciples He assured them that what He had been to them, the Holy Spirit would be in their lives after He ascended to heaven. As Jesus ascended to heaven after His resurrection once again He assured His disciples that as they went forward into the world that He would, “be with them always, to the very end of the world.” (Matt. 28:20)
The events we face in life can work to cloud the awareness of God’s presence and work in our life. My friend State Representative Spencer Swalm sent me an article entitled, “How Dante Saved My Life.” The article written by author, editor and blogger Rod Dreher is subtitled, “A midlife crisis is cured by The Divine Comedy.”
Through the article he reviews the lessons he learned from Dante’s trilogies. At one point he discusses Dante’s response to the death of a lover. Dreher observes, “When she died, Dante…allowed his eyes to be turned from faith – the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…to a misdirected love for the transitory and worldly.”
In this challenging moment of grief Dante allowed his focus to be turned from heaven to earth; from the eternal to the temporal. The words of an old hymn remind us that the Lord is with us in all that we face, good or bad. He is the Lord who is with us and will not forsake us.
Moment by moment I’m kept in His love,
Moment by moment I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/486#ixzz30EdwDGCy
At all times and in every moment we need to focus our attention on the Lord and respond appropriately to that moment in our life. Pastor Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” puts it this way:
In Happy Moments
Praise God
In Difficult Moments
Seek God
In Quiet Moments
Worship God
In Painful Moments
Trust God
In Every Moment
Thank God