Yesterday, All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away

“It’s not foresight or hindsight we need. We need sight, plain and simple. We need to see what is right in front of us.” — Gordon Atkinson, Real Live Preacher

It all started when I was a young man.

I spent hours looked at Life magazine, the photos of men in action, wondering what I would be when I grew up.

Photo by Smiley, with permission

Sure, like plenty of other boys, I wanted to a fireman. Then it was a doctor. After the missionary came to our church, I wanted to be one of them, too. Then I wanted to enter electronics, but someone wisely told me a color-blind dude wouldn’t be successful with wires.

I was always looking ahead. Even today, I desperately want to see into the future, to divine tomorrow

Now that I’m well into my fourth decade, I spend plenty of time looking behind me. I look at love that I have lost, relationships that failed, careers that bombed, and broken dreams.

I also can look back at the love that I have found, the friends that I have made, the job that I have and the hopes fulfilled.

But there is something about just looking around, experiencing what God has for me right now. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” the Psalmist says.

Ravi Zacharias tells this story:

I remember the time an older man asked me when I was young, ‘Do you know what you are doing now?’ I thought it was some kind of trick question. ‘Tell me,’ I said. ‘You are building your memories,‘ he replied, ‘so make them good ones.’

Rather than looking at the road ahead of me, or the footprints behind, maybe I need to be grateful for where my feet are right now.

Yes, looking at yesterday gives me wisdom. Thinking about tomorrow gives me hope. But most of all, I want to understand this very moment.

Thoughts?