Tending the Right Now By Michele Wilber
We put our tomato plants in early this year. We staked them as they grew tall and set up a drip system, so they had water each day.
The cool spring and late start to a hot summer made these tomatoes thrive. As the adage in the south goes for growing corn, "knee high by the fourth of July," we were shoulder height and growing steady by June. The instant we hit triple digits in July, we soon had stewed tomatoes dripping from the vines. We salvaged the last remaining tomatoes and made delicious salsa.
We knew we were enjoying the last fruits of summer and savoured each bite. Our western culture teaches us to look ahead, set goals, and plan to achieve that next thing. As Christians, we look forward with hope to the future. Then how do we live right now if we are always looking toward what is next? How do we teach our children contentment if we always teach them to look beyond right now?
How do I model working hard towards a goal while being content with what has been accomplished right now?
As a mother, I am not confident I have this figured out. This seems to be a daily struggle for me. How do I model working hard towards a goal while being content with what has been accomplished right now? There is always another good thing to achieve, from sports teams to grades or activities at school. There is always some "thing" to reach for just out of our grasp today to reach for tomorrow. We hear them called "reach goals" because they are just that, a goal that we need to reach towards to achieve.
Growing tomatoes teaches me to tend to the right now. It teaches me to care for what is in front of me in order to enjoy what will be provided tomorrow. When I tend these plants with what is needed today, I can enjoy the fruit of that labour when tomorrow's today arrives.
Cultivate Contentment
As parents, we want more for our kids than we had. We desire to give them experiences and things we may not have had. It's natural to love our children and want to express our love for them (Matt. 7:11). How do we balance that and not raise entitled children? I know what is true in my own life: when I show gratitude, it naturally gives way to a content heart. When I express my thankfulness for what I have in my life and the Creator of it all, I am more grateful now for what I do have in my life rather than for what I don't have.
Find simple ways to include the practice of honouring the Lord for his provision. An evening prayer before bed recalling what you are grateful for that day, a morning prayer driving to school, or a journal list your family keeps.
Cultivate Generosity
Finding unique ways to teach the lesson to our kids that giving produces a content heart may look different in every family. Provide consistent opportunities for your children to give sacrificially of their own money, time, and talent. Are there changes you can make in your lifestyle to produce kids who want to be generous? Add simple family practices that take them out of the comfort of their own home and neighbourhood so they can experience how God can use their small offering. Let the Holy Spirit do the work in their lives to shape their hearts so they experience a God who can't be out-given.
Cultivate Grace
Do we slow down long enough to acknowledge our mistakes without moving on quickly to mask our failures? Or do we do the opposite and sit with the shame and guilt of mistakes for too long? How do you extend grace to those who have disappointed us and extend grace to ourselves for mistakes? We can model this to our kids when we face this in our own lives. Our children watch our responses to life's daily situations, like being cut off in the pickup line at your kid's school. Let your kids hear you apologize to your spouse and to them. Let them see the outflow of your relationship with Jesus in how you respond.
By cultivating contentment, generosity, and grace in our lives, we tend to the "right now" God has given us, so we are like Jesus tomorrow. We become people who trust God for today, knowing He is the Lord of tomorrow. Living with a content heart helps to break a pattern of always wanting more. By extending grace to others and ourselves, we learn that true freedom in Christ comes from fully understanding what Jesus did on the cross and His forgiveness towards us.
Tending the right now and being stewards of the gifts he has given us today provides us with opportunities to be used again for His kingdom. In what ways are you tending right now? What is one simple practice you can incorporate into your life to cultivate contentment, generosity, and grace?
Look at what God says in His word about contentment, generosity, and grace: Ps. 37:3-4; Hab. 3:17-19; Matt. 5:6; John 4:13-15; 2 Corin. 12:9-10; Eph. 1:6-7, 2:8-9;Phil. 4:11-12, and Tim. 6:6-10.
Father, thank you that you have entrusted us with "right now." Please help us to be faithful stewards of all you have given us so we can be your hands and feet. In Jesus' Name, Amen
Michele Wilbert is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and Bible teacher who lives in California with her husband and son. She is passionate about equipping women to lead right where they are no matter what stage of life. She speaks about how we can engage culture with our faith and use our gifts in our spheres of influence. She writes small group curriculum, devotions, leadership development and is co-author of Unshakable Peace in an Unsteady World. She is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and finds joy teaching others to study God’s Word.