Right Here, Right Now

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:1-7

There is a term used in business management called “analysis paralysis” that refers to the times when a company considers a problem for too long and fails to move in the direction of any solution. It’s when a company is so consumed with the details of the big picture that they fail to move at all. It’s also is a great descriptor of a pattern Christians can easily get caught in when they are so consumed with worry about God’s whole plan being revealed to them that they neglect the things and the people God has put in front of them.

It is good to consider God’s will for your life and to seek his direction for major decisions. It’s normal as a Christian to wonder how God will use you. But there is this notion in the Christian life that one day there will be a lighting-strike moment where God’s plan for us is revealed. For some people, that happens. However, the problem with this notion is that often it doesn’t and so we end up just waiting. While we are waiting we’re picturing the day when we are positioned in a specific job, at a specific church –or even just anywhere in the right place at the right time –where the grand moment will come when all our gifts line up perfectly and God uses us. This logic is such a threat to a purposeful Christian life because it puts off doing what God has commanded to a future time. Francis Chan put it well when he said,

“It’s much less demanding to think about God’s will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It’s safer to commit to following him someday instead of this day.” (1)

So stop waiting. Stop waiting for the day when you’ll be facing off a giant or standing at the entrance to a fiery furnace to live boldly for the Lord. Every day takes steps towards obedience in service to God. The day God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery was followed by forty years of wandering in the desert where Moses had to remain faithful to the Lord’s commandments. A Biblical life certainly includes miracles, but before Noah ever went on the ark and for all of Rahab’s life after she housed the spies, there were years of daily commitment to the purposes of God. The Christian life promises triumphant deliverance and that deliverance is on display every day when we work to drive sin from our hearts, love the members of our church, minister to the lost, and care for the sick and poor. God’s big purposes start with us dying to ourselves and following in obedience in our regular life. You don’t have to quit your job and go live in another country or wait until you are perfectly situated in the right neighborhood or church to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. (Micah 6:8) God has you right where he wants to use you here, now, in quarantine, and for all the days after. You are in perfect position to do God’s will. Trust God with tomorrow and serve Him today.

Author: Abigail Neal, Class of 2021—Women’s Volleyball Team –Nashport, OH

(1) Chan, Francis. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. David C Cook, 2015.