He stops his car in the middle of the road…
Opens the door…
Gets out…
And starts picking wild blackberries from a bush in the ditch…
My car is right behind his…
There are several cars behind me…
I watch in amazement as he picks more berries, looks at them quickly and pops them into his mouth.
In my rear view mirror…
Others drivers in the growing line of stopped vehicles strain to see what he was doing.
The driver right behind me laughs and shakes his head…
We are all stopped by a train…
A train taking forever to get through the crossing…
To me it seems we have waited an eternity
(OK, it’s only ten minutes…)
I am agitated…
In a hurry…
Getting angry….
The person in front of me isn’t agitated or hurried or angry…
He’s perfectly content to eat wild blackberries by the side of the road.
The train finally passes, and we all drive on….
I wonder…
Exactly much had I sped up the train by getting upset?
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27
Who had enjoyed those unexpected moments by the side of the road?
Who moved on to the next moment calm and prepared?
It sure wasn’t me.
I spent my time worrying about the future…
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Mathew 6:34
In worrying about the future, I missed the present…
And in missing the present, I missed God’s presence .
Think about it…
If God is always with us…
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you Hebrews 13:5
If we are always in the present…
Where else but in the present can we find God and God’s presence ?
Where else but in His presence will we find true rest?
And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14
Note: This post first appeared in July, 2015
