Happy Monday, friends. I’m coming in hot after a religious retreat this past weekend, so I still feel high on the Holy Spirit – praise the Lord! Today’s Monday Mantra comes from one of the biggest themes of the weekend that felt totally worthwhile to share with you, since it’s a powerful tidbit that I know I need hearing myself basically all the time. I need the reminder in the now as a personal mantra to repeat, sure – but I also need the reminder from God, since it’s applicable to the big man upstairs, as well.

Ready for it?

“I am in the Now.”

We already know how important it is to stake our claim in the NOW, and not the when. Because if not now, when? But how often do we truly live in the now, mind/body/spirit, without letting the past OR the future come between?

I’m guilty of this constantly. I beat myself up for things I woulda/coulda/shoulda done differently or better, and I get caught up in my own plans for the future – without even knowing for certain if I’ll have the blessing of waking up another day. Do you do the same? In sweating the past or stressing the future, we’re tangled in the two things that we have absolutely zero control or power over.

Can we change the past? No.

Can we predict the future? Nope.

So why the heck do we spend so much of our now fixated on either??? The ugly truth bomb: the devil works in the past and in the future. He gets us stuck in the past or obsessed with the future – neither of which we can control in the present – as means to distract us from what we CAN do right NOW.

We turn to the past and beat ourselves (or others) up, since it’s where guilt, shame, and unforgiveness lie.

We turn to the future with trepidation, full of anxiety or worry or stress about what may come; or, we look to the future with excited anticipation, but then might miss the small moments or blessings or bliss in the present because of it (and the future is STILL not guaranteed).

Whether we’re trying to hit a new goal at work or the gym, we get no closer to either by harboring on anything other than what’s in our reach and power in this very moment. Sure – studying the past can be helpful sometimes in figuring out where something went wrong. But fixating on the past is a surefire way to accidentally manifest history repeating itself while robbing the present of its joy. Sure – thinking about the future can be helpful sometimes in figuring out exactly what we’d like to happen or who we’d like to be, so that we can align our present thoughts + actions with that. But fixating on the future can lead us to skip important steps in the now to get us there, or can bring about impatience and anxiety if/when plans or paths change and wind along the way.

But God is always NOW. “I am in the Now.”

Each moment is all we have – nothing less, nothing more. We have the moment before us to take action – to love more, to work harder, to try again, to offer help, to uplift another, to become stronger, to believe bigger. And in the same vein, God has now. “For He says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” {2 Corinthians 6:2}

When you feel high in the sky, on cloud nine from an accomplishment or win – God is there. When you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, crying yourself to sleep on your pillow at night alone – God is there, too.

Every single “now” is a new opportunity to let God work something in your life. But – here’s the kicker – we have to LET God into our now. God won’t come breaking into our houses and hearts if we swear we want nothing to do with Him. He’s still there, but He’s not going to send a lightning bolt through our chimney to knock some holy sense into us. If you want God to show up, YOU need to show up, too – just like David against Goliath. Showing up doesn’t mean anything other than that – just showing up. Being there. Being present, operating in the now.

The other thing?

“Until” is not of God.

Those lies we tell ourselves? You won’t be pretty enough until you lose five pounds. You won’t be good enough until you get that promotion. You won’t be holy enough or worthy enough for God to help you until you read the whole Bible.

Lies. Lies!

You are enough, right here and right NOW. The Lord meets us where we are now. You do not need to wait until anything to begin your God-given journey towards your God-given purpose. Your time is in the now. His time is in the now.

Don’t let the lies of the past or the future distract you from your present path. Your life is happening in the NOW.

Are you in it?

How can you live more in the now this week?

He has made everything beautiful in its time. {Ecclesiastes 3:11}

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. {Proverbs 27:1}

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. {Romans 13:11}

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. {2 Peter 3:8}