Recently I overheard a comment spoken in my wife’s art class. Her art coach referred to “Savoring the moment” as he was was directing the art students to capture on canvas the emotions that they were feeling about the scene they were about to paint.
The phrase stuck with me because the Holy Spirit was highlighting it. He took that thought and began to pinpoint the internal focus of my everyday life. We need to give every moment room to be significant in and of itself. It’s not healthy to think of life in view of select significant moments when they are all important. The Lord has His hand upon all our lives. He has ordered encounters, people, and circumstances according to His goodness for us to discover what he has in each one for us.
I have been seeking to live this revelation for the last few months privately and have found it is not as easy as it sounds. All too often I will be ahead or behind the current moment and would have to chuckle at myself and re-adjust my internal compass. As I turned my heart to engage a moment for what it was, I found the Lord met me with a new level of peace and calm in my soul coupled with an increase of fun in the task. My awareness of being present has really increased, and most days I am able to truly savor some moments. Though there is much more room to grow, I am encouraged by the impact of this new revelation, which is increasing my peace and sensitivity to what He is doing.
It is good to simply rest, engage and embrace the moment at hand. There is something about appreciating what you are doing, that seems to open the door to His abiding presence or just have simple joy in the moment. I am thankful to be alive and have a chance to live life. Each moment is precious, a gift given. David prayed that he could behold “the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4) and I believe we should set our hearts to see what David longed to see. If we too hunger after that, I know He will open our eyes in a fresh new way. The Lord said, “Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear.” (Matthew 13:16) God give us those blessed eyes to see your beauty!
There is the child-like enjoyment of a moment that is the essence of joie de vivre. Color, sound, beauty, the simple pleasures of life are there for us. Note the phrase in I Tim 6:17: “…the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” Savoring the moment orients us for receiving the abiding presence of the Lord in our everyday walking with Him, keeping our hearts turned toward him.
Knowing that our heavenly father has called himself “I am” in the scriptures, we must pause and consider that of all the possible names, He chose the present tense of the present moment. Have you ever gone out with your family for a fun time and had to use intentional effort to clear your head from continuing along the lines of the challenges of the job? My secretary has encouraged me to switch the work mind off when the day is done. So I installed an “off switch” right near my heart under my shirt and have been using it metaphorically on a daily basis.
I love the testimony of Brother Lawrence who gave himself to the presence of God while washing dishes through the day at the monastery that he had committed his devotion to. The monks began to come and do their daily prayer in his kitchen because the presence of the Lord was so strong. Then people began to travel to be there in his kitchen to feel that presence, and some of them experienced physical healing while there. That is turning the mundane into the glorious! A dishwashing ministry that is visited by the miraculous experience of healing. Wow! I often do the dishes at home for us since my wife always does our cooking. I thought I would try this myself, so I put on some amazing worship music and concentrated on abiding in His presence while washing. As I sensed His amazing affection in the task it brought a whole new dimension of experience to the dishes.
In a conversation along these lines with a friend of mine, Andy Peck, he told me a story where John Ortberg was asked to give critical life skills counsel to a high level leader. The first thing John said was, “Ruthlessly remove hurry from your life!” The man he was consulting thanked him, and eagerly asked for the next point in his advice. Mr. Ortberg replied simply, “There is no more. That is it.”
Slowing down my internal engine has been a personal goal of mine for the last five years. In times past, I have thought myself almost brilliant in the speed and motivation I want to bring to the challenges of a day. But honestly, for me, a little slower and a little calmer is a whole lot closer to the abiding in the vine that the scripture calls us to.
I can’t imagine the Lord being in a hurry to do anything when He was here, but He was in tune to the Father every moment. I challenge us to do likewise. Take it on. Decide to savor the moment, the person, or the task before you and I believe you will be doing good to your own soul. Journey with me in turning the mundane to the glorious and activating the eyes to see the hidden beauty of the Lord before us each day. It is there! Can you see it?
By Martin Flack
Editing by Mollie Flack and Elizabeth Woning