As you may have noticed, I often title my blog posts based on song titles. This is because I believe in the power of music. A song can bring you closer to God and help you realize something about your life. Listening to this song, "The Very Next Thing" by Casting Crowns, made me stop and think about the way I had been living my life.
I spend all my time dreaming what the future's gonna bring. And all of this time, there's a world passing by right in front of me. Set my sights on tomorrow while I'm tripping over today. Who says big things are somewhere off in the distance? I don't want to look back just to see all the times that I missed it. I wanna be here and now. Starting right here right now...With the very next words of love to be spoken. To the the very next heart shattered and broken. To the very next way you're gonna use me. Show me the next thing.
I listened to this song once. Then I listened again and again. Until I finally realized why it spoke to me. I encourage you to listen to this song and I pray it speaks to you too.
I had been trying to make plans for the future for so long that I forgot how to live in the here and now. I have feared the great unknown for most of my life and I thought everything good that was going to come into my life would happen in the future. This song says I'll do the next thing. I want God to show me the next thing in my life. It doesn't have to be a year from now or a decade from now. I don't have to keep living with the fear of the unknown weighing me down. As long as I keep living for the next thing, the future will find me. God will still be right there beside me. And maybe I won't be afraid anymore. Maybe God will prepare me by showing me the next thing one day a time.
Living for the future can become paralyzing. It's like looking down from a rollercoaster and not being able to see the ground, but knowing it is there. You're afraid if something malfunctions on that roller coaster, you could drop to the bottom. It is the fear of the unknown that may keep you from riding the rollercoaster or it may keep you from enjoying the ride. Life is just like that. Fear can consume you so much that you don't get on the ride or you can't enjoy it once you do get on. Life is meant to be lived for Jesus Christ. There should be no reason to fear what He has in store for us, yet we back away at the thought of the unknown. We play the worst scenario game that keeps us from stepping out in faith. We are unnecessarily paralyzed by the future. This paralysis stops us from enjoying what is right in front of us: the truth that God has placed in the here and now. The plans He has for us now are lost in the fear we have of the unknown. Why can't we simply place the unknown future in the hands of a God we know, love, and trust? Maybe we don't trust God enough to hand over our future and our fear of it. If that's the case, we need to do some soul-searching.
One thing I took from listening to this song was God, show me the next thing. This phrase hit me hard because so many of my prayers would be along these lines: "God, please reveal your plans for me. Prepare me for what is to come..." I was praying for the future, instead of looking at what God had set right in front of me. Let us pray for the next thing God has for us, whatever that may be. Although still unknown, I believe God can give us assurance that He can and will move in our lives. Which way are you living: in fear of the unknown or for the very next thing? God wants you to trust Him with your future...Jeremiah 29:11-For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.