Wherever you are, be all there.

Lately i’ve been wondering why so many of us feel so overwhelmed, indecisive and unsatisfied? What about our culture is robbing us of the ability to commit to the moment and to live in the present? What’s the deal with our generation’s struggle with the quarter-life-crisis?

Perhaps we’re overwhelmed because we glorify busyness. We give the thumbs up to the workaholic because we believe that busy people are important people. We wear the title of ‘Burnt Out’ as though it were a badge of honour.

Perhaps we’re indecisive because we live in a culture that fears missing out. Committing to anything is terrifying, because what if something better comes along?

Perhaps we’re unsatisfied because our world tells us that no matter what we do, or who we’re with, there’s always something or someone better.

We don’t have to settle for this way of life.

Instead of perpetuating the insatiable rat race with competition and comparisons, we can commit to fostering gratitude and contentment.

Instead of despairing over the never-ending ‘what if’s’ and ‘have nots’, we can take notice of and enjoy the daily gifts of grace.

Instead of facing each day with worry and indecision, we can step out in faith.

I have this quote stuck to my bathroom mirror, to remind myself that my God is the author of life, and His providence pervades my calendar. I can make plans for my life, but ultimately it is God who establishes my steps:

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. – Proverbs 16:9

It is He who allows me to experience what I do, in the hours He has granted. It is He who puts people in my life to love, even if it interrupts my day. This truth isn’t an excuse to be lazy or passive; rather it frees me to give life my best shot because God is in control of the outcome of every step. Even my perceived failures and inefficiencies can be repurposed for good.

In life’s highs and lows, in the excitement and the mundane, His providence frees me to be present.

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Providence: God, the great Creator of all things, does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.