This is the word the Lord’s been speaking to me lately.  During prayer time this morning, and then more during worship, I felt the Lord showing me something that I really need to apply to me life.  It’s not a new concept….He’s been speaking about this to me for quite some time, but this morning the pieces of it all came together for the first time.  I’ll try to explain it in more detail.

I have a tendency to live life in auto-pilot.  If I’m out running errands or even tasks that I do in my business,  my mind is somewhere else.  My mind is always working, thinking, planning, evaluating……How do you turn it off?  Sometimes I’m caught up in the past, reviewing past issues, hurts, events etc.  Sometimes I’m in the future, planning, creating new concepts for my business, coming up with new product ideas…..but what the Lord has been showing me for a while now is to live in the present.  In the present, we are taking in the monent.  We are living and experiencing people and moments around them….taking them in, being aware of things around us. 

That has never been me.  I’ve never been a people watcher like some members of my family (you know who you are  🙂  )  And we’ve talked at times about how different we experience the same events.  One of my daughters loves to just sit at the airport and watch people, striking up conversations with those around her and seeing what will come from it.  Not me!  Give me a good book and I’ll get lost even though I’m around the same people as her.  I relish the escape.  I’m not a people person, I don’t look for people to talk to and it stretches me to have to put on that hat.  BUT, how can I be an effective witness to those around me if I live life in escape mode?  Is this like hiding my talents in the ground?  Scripture says that when the master returned he was not pleased with the servant who had hid his talents…..  So I’ve been having this word stir in me for a couple of months now, “Live in the present”.  

A friend of mine did a word study on the word “abide”.  John 15:5 says I am the vine, you are the branches;  He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

The word abide in the Greek means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy) continue, dwell, be present, remain, stand, tarry

I don’t think it’s coincidental that her study on abide and the word rolling around in me for all this time are the same.  What I’m seeing from this is that part of abiding in the Lord is to be in the present.  To reign in my constant rolling thoughts and just BE…..  So here’s what happened to me today.  I know I would have missed this opportunity if I’d been in my normal mode.

After church I went to Walmart to pick up a few items for the week.  I knew I had an afternoon of cooking ahead of me to prepare for the week since I’m on the GAPS diet and have to be intentional about what I eat and plan ahead so I can be successful, but I digress….more about that in another post soon.  As I was leaving Walmart, I passed a man standing in the rain with a pancho and a duffle bag.  He had a sign that said he was traveling and was hungry.  I glanced over at him and read his sign, then drove on through the light.  A couple of blocks down the street I sensed that perhaps I was supposed to do something.  I didn’t want to give him money but I could buy him a meal.  I continued to drive and shot a quick prayer to the Lord asking if this was from Him or just my own imagination.  I quickly realized that I never imagine thoughts like that so I started trying to figure out what to buy him.  Then I saw the Arbys.  They have cold sandwiches and chips.  I didn’t want to buy him something hot with fries.  They would get cold in no time and be gross.  So I drove through Arbys, got him a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich with chips and a bottle of water.  Then I drove back to Walmart looking for him.  He was still there, but now he was sitting down on the curb, just sitting there in the rain.  I drove back by him, rolled down my window and motioned for him to come over.  I passed the bag and water bottle through the window and asked him where he was headed to.  He said Hannibal, he had secured a job there in the chemical plant.  I said I would be praying for him and drove away.

On the way home I spent some time praying for him.  I thought of the movie Les Miserables and sensed perhaps he needed a new beginning, so I prayed the rest of the way home that the Lord would give him a new beginning.

If I had been in my normal mode….thinking about the past or future, or planning etc. I would have missed the opportunity to bless someone.  I’m asking the Lord for more moments like this.  I want to be used by Him.  I want to quit letting my time be consumed with everything else besides what’s on His heart.  I pray this is the beginning of a new chapter…one of living in the present  🙂