You Are Here Today

Whenever you find yourself thinking you need to do this, go here, get this done, have that conversation, and more, you’re focusing on what’s to come. You’re acting like a squirrel that's chasing after the next nut. No matter how many nuts the squirrel gathers, it will always chase another nut.

Chasing nuts relinquishes life’s greatest gift— presence. Without presence, you are merely reacting, not responding. By focusing too much on tomorrow, you are limiting your capacity to respond right now. Remember, the quality of your life is tied to your ability to respond rather than react. In order to give yourself the space to choose your responses, you have to slow down. You have to be still. After all, God is a great God. He has it all figured out. He has asked that we only "be still" and in doing so, we demonstrate that we know He is truly God.

Slowing down gives you time to experience what's around you. It gives you time to practice gratitude. How can you be grateful for that which you don't take the time to notice? Slowing down allows you the time and the space to discover what you have to be thankful for right now.

Psalm 118:24 reminds us that we are to be grateful for "this day." It doesn't say, "tomorrow is the day God has made; worry about it." Nor does it say, "yesterday is the day God has made; wallow in regret about it." Rather, Scripture reminds us over and over to be present. You have been given this moment right now.

Take a moment to look around you. Identify at least three things you have to be grateful for right now. Then, tell God thank you. When you make this a habit, you will begin to practice the presence of God in a whole new way. God abides in the now moments. Jeremiah 23:24 tells us that He fills the present moments with Himself. This is where we meet and experience Him as we draw our thoughts and our emotions away from what's happened or what's to come, and return it to who we are and Whose we are right now.