be where your feet are.

As people, as human beings, in the world in which we live we are constantly thinking about what is next. When we start high school we think about where we will go to college. Once we get to college we think about what we will do when we graduate. Finally getting that job after college we think about what job we will have next, or when we will get a raise or promotion at our current job. We even think about our next birthday the day after our present one passes. Why do we do that? What is helping us to always look forward to what’s next in our lives? There are so many questions about why we think in this mindset and I’m sure everyone has a different answer.

I have been in Scotland for two weeks (WHAT) and God is continually confirming this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Even through all the confirmation, my mind often thinks of a certain thing: what will I do when these two years are over? There are so many options. Will I continue to serve overseas or will I come home? Will I go to seminary? Will I teach?  What are all my options? Every time these questions begin blazing through my mind I gently have to think and remind myself…be present.

All things are going to get answered, so it is doing nothing to help me right now to think about them. I need to be present here. I need to invest into where I am and what God has given me now, and pondering on those questions aren’t going to help me be any more present here. When I am fully present in the relationships and work God has given me here, Jesus is best seen and experienced. When I am fully present where I am, I better know who Jesus is. When I know more of Jesus, I am able to tell others more of who He is. I am constantly telling myself to be where my feet are. I am living in a new country, serving Jesus and loving His people. I do not think there is any better time for me to be where my feet are.

So now I tell you. It’s likely that wherever you are in your life, you are thinking about what’s next. But I encourage you, be where your feet are. Stop thinking of the next milestone, the next event on your calendar, or even next week. Stop and be fully present right where you are. Allow Jesus to mold you and use you IN the place you are now. It is likely that the more present we are in the places we are now, the more prepared we will be for what is next (which we aren’t talking about). Ask the Lord how He can use you right now and be sensitive to where the Spirit leads you while you are present. Living where your feet are is scary and can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it gives so much freedom. A freedom that changes lives, your own included. I’ll end with a quote from a book that is currently rocking my world:

“Present is living with your feet firmly grounded in

reality, pale and uncertain as it may seem.”

-Shauna Niequist, Present over Perfect