Here and Now

Sometimes I look at times gone by and wonder what it would have been like to live in a different era. I especially love the Victorian age. I love the slower pace of life and the way people paid attention to details. Things weren’t so hurried and people took time to enjoy the simple things of life. I love the stories of quilting bees and church picnics; of sitting on the porch on a summer evening. I could really get wistful about it.

But it wasn’t up to me to choose when I would be born or where. God did the choosing. He decided exactly when I would be the most useful to his kingdom. He decided where I would be most effective for His purposes.

It’s like God had a huge map and timeline, stretched it out before Him and planned in great detail the way it would be. Of course He didn’t do it that way. He didn’t labor over it like we would. It wasn’t like us trying to arrange the furniture in a room: “If this goes here then that could go over there.” His plan was perfect from the beginning.

Psalm 139.16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God knew where my life was headed before I was even born.

I Corinthians 12:18 says, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.” He knew exactly where I fit.

God has designed each of us to be right here, right now. He looked over the entire timeline of humanity and the giant globe he created and he pinned an exact spot and time for you! This is the appointed time. Now is the time to look around you and see where you can make a difference. You were meant to be right where you are. There are things you can do that bring glory to God and advance his kingdom.

Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still call ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Perhaps today there is someone whose encounter with you was ordained from the beginning of time. Maybe today is a day that you, by your obedience to live your life to the fullest for Christ, will help change a life for eternity. This is when we can say, “Seize the day!”