Enjoying the Present

 by Keith Gardner

Philippians 4:11-12 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

As we live out our spiritual journey, growing from new born babes in Christ into mature faith walking believers, we come face to face with many challenges, pit falls and road blocks. During these difficult times we are forced to question who God is, who we are, and what we really believe. It is in the wrestling that we, more than any other time, discover God.

We learn His many names and the vastness of His character. We discover how to interact with Him in a more fulfilling and enriching way. It is also during this time that God begins revealing to us, in bits and pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, His plan for our lives. Take Abram for example; God sent Abram on a journey to a land that He would show him. Abram followed God not knowing where he was going. God revealed Himself and Abram responded by faithfully obeying and honoring God. God next took Abram to the land of the promise. Though he did not, at that moment, take possession of the land, Abram believed God would keep His word. A short time later, God revealed Himself to Abram through a promise; a promise to make him into a great nation. At the time Abram was ninety-nine years old and much too old to have children. Nevertheless, Abram (now called Abraham) believed God. Scripture tells us that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Contrast that with Abraham’s descendents. The Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, left the bondage of Egypt journeying through the desert to the Promised Land; the land long promised to Abraham. During the journey Korah and Dathan, two of the tribal leaders, convinced 250 other leaders to oppose Moses. They accused Moses of deceiving them, by not taking them to the Promised Land, but bringing them to the desert to lord over them. God responded by opening up the earth and swallowing up Korah, Dathan and their families. Next God destroyed the 250 men with fire from heaven. A little while later some of the Israelites complained to Moses and to God that they were tired of eating the manna from heaven; they wanted meat. Their complaints included reminding God of the good life they had in Egypt, where meat was free and abundant. God gave them their meat, and while they were still eating it God struck them and they died.

What are our life lessons? What can we learn from the journeys of those before us? While traversing the path from bondage to promise we will face the difficulties of the trip. We will be tempted to see the old place of bondage as better than where we are right now. Or we might be so focused on the promise that we view the place God has us now with contempt. Either thought is disastrous. God knows where we have come from and where we are going. The place we now find ourselves is not without the forethought of God. We have choices to make, we can follow after Abraham’s example and trust God even in the uncertainty, or we can show contempt for where we are; seeing the lies of our past as bliss, or overlooking God to a future hope; that hope is only available by learning the lessons of today.

Rom 5:3b-5a … we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint…