Capture the Moment

by John E. Thomas

In the Moment

It takes real effort to actually live in the moment you are in. So often we are thinking about what we need to do, planning for the thing that is coming or living in the moment that just happened and trying to figure out something from our past. Have you ever been going about life and realize that you don’t know what just happened? You couldn’t tell someone exactly the words they used, the streets you just passed, or the song that just ended. Obviously there are times we can, but it is often the exception—not the rule.

It is important to capture the moment because we only live in the moment we are in. Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow but to live in today. This really is a key to the spiritual life. Many ask The Lord to give them divine appointments and He does but we miss them because we are looking for something that will happen instead of recognizing Him in the moment.

You cannot change the past, it can be healed, but it cannot be changed. You cannot control the future, you can prepare for it, but you can’t control it. The only space of time you can affect is the moment you are living.

Life happens in the moment. Right now you can enjoy the sunset. Right now you can enjoy the music you hear. Right now you can laugh with your friends. Right now you can engage your spouse or family. Right now you can recognize the voice and presence of God. Tomorrow will be too late.

Kung Fu Panda had some wisdom shared by the old tortoise, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift—that is why it is called the present.”

Now is the only time you have. Live it to the fullest. If you don’t you will end up regretting what did not happen wondering when your dreams will come. A full life is one that is lived right now. Now is when a god wants to encounter you. “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the time of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

It is amazing, most of our stress and anxiety comes from living in a time that is not. It is impossible! We can’t live in the last moment and we cannot live in the next. But when we live in the moment we find ourselves in we find a key to peace. Peace is a fruit of true spirituality.

So capture the moment. Stop living in yesterday. Stop worrying about tomorrow. Live in the now because the present is God’s ‘now’ gift to you—treat it as such.

So practically, how do we do this? When you find yourself distracted—stop. Pay attention to what is happening. Pay attention to your breathing. Ask God to make you aware of His presence in the moment. Listen to the words that the person is speaking to you without trying to figure out how you are going to respond, just listen. Hear the birds sing, or the wind blow the leaves, or the cars on the road in front of your house.

Ask God to make you attentive to what is actually happening. Ask God to restore your innocence so you experience the moment as if it were the first like it you have ever encountered, because it is. There will never be a moment like it again. There has never been a moment like it in the past. It is the only one like it there will ever be.