We are often so ready to move on to the next thing in life, the next thing on our “to do” list, that we miss the blessings of the present before us. Some may have good reasons for wanting or needing to “move on,” but have we really paused to step back from the drive forward and looked at the blessings before us?

There is much pain and loneliness in life for so many people. I hear of this pain and loneliness regularly. Often this emotional pain and loneliness is set in the midst of busy schedules and being surrounded with a certain level of physical comfort. These things mask the pain and loneliness. These things mask the yearning to find that which will satisfy our soul. There is a level of emptiness for some who genuinely struggle to find wholeness in their lives that soothes their soul with a balm of contentment and understanding. They make it through the day, barely, ending the day as they began with a numbness and sense of wandering as if in a fog. I have heard quoted to me a number of times over the past six months a Barry Manilow song that has a line in it, “I’m doing OK, but not very well.” In a way this sums the experiences of some.

We each have been blessed to varying degrees with creature comforts in our lives. We have homes in which to live, ample food for sustenance, and closets full of clothing – much of which we have not worn in years. Yet there is a level of emptiness inside. I hear it more frequently than you might imagine. It causes me to wonder. I wonder why. I wonder if our focus on a daily basis tends to be too forward looking, and we simply miss the blessings of the present – we error in seeing mostly what we don’t have in life instead of what we do.

We are striving at the present with the challenges of our growth and the need for additional physical space with a North Wing. In our focus looking forward we see that this is quite a mountain to climb, and some express discouragement. But let us never lose sight of the blessings before us: each other, our love and care for one another, our gathering for the profound blessing of worshipping our Lord together, and our caring for those who beyond our walls live at the edge of desperation.

God does indeed desire for us to look into the future, and to know that there is hope and love. And we do look to the future with that hope knowing that our lives are in Christ. But God also desires for us to see the present blessings. To know that the present blessings are what sustain us today. We look to the future, but we experience the present.

When you are feeling discouraged and alone, when you feel isolated or misunderstood, know that God has been and remains active in your life with blessings in the present. They serve as a reminder of that love. Stop and look at those blessings. They are there. Notice them. Let them remind you of how you have been blessed. Know that the future holds new blessings. We cannot know those blessings in advance, but God is everfaithful and is at work! God is at work in ways that we never expect. These blessings may not be as you anticipated or planned or even “thought” you needed, but they will be enough and then some. For God knows what you truly need. God knows what you “think” you need; God also knows what is best! Place your trust in that truth.

By God’s grace he refreshes our view of life and the present – with a hopeful eye to the future – by helping us to see the blessings before us.

Pastor Randy