Don't stop till you get enough

Time takes us all, so why am I not living for today?
-The Used

Today will soon be
Gone, like yesterday is gone
Like history is gone
The world keeps spinning on
You're going, going, gone
Like summer break is gone,
Like saturday is gone
Just try to prove me wrong
You pretend like you're immortal.
-Switchfoot

I had today off, and few obligations - hope for RDU (holla back summit - hopeforRDU.org) in the morning, a lunch date and a dinner date with friends. Oh, and the gym . . . and errands. However, I still found myself feeling rushed and stressed.

As I was driving home from errands, I thought to myself - why am I feeling this way? This is my day off. It's meant to be enjoyed. Then I realized that in my mind I was planning out how the rest of the day was going to play out (as well as the next week or two).

How much time do we spend living in the present?

I figure that I spend maybe 10% of my life living in the past, 85% in the future and 5% in the present. awesome.

I don't think that's the way it's suppossed to go. Tomorrow isn't exactly guaranteed. My next breath isn't even guaranteed. Shoot - who's to say that tomorrow I won't roll my car in a freak accident and spend the rest of my life in a vegetative state? What good would all of that planning and stressing do me then?

We live in a society that is constantly on the go. We gain feelings of worth based on how busy we are, how full our schedules are. We over-commit. We over-book ourselves at work and in our social lives.

When did we get so caught up in life that we forget to savor the present?

I was driving home from a friend's house tonight . . . accidentally got on 147 going the wrong way . . . then ended up on 85, still headed the opposite direction of home.

I was reminded to just enjoy life as it comes. Whether it's driving on the freeway with the windows down and the music blaring at 11pm . . . thankful that there are soundwaves pounding my tympanic membranes, transmitting into electric pulses that submit signals to my brain and allow me to enjoy (of course) some old school MJ. Thankful that I have sensors in my skin that allow me to feel the cool breeze as it courses through the open windows and sunroof of my car. Thankful that as I headed the right way on 85, I had a clear shot of the moon and a few stars.

And even when we feel like our lives are stagnant and we don't have any clear direction, God is still right there with us. He tells Israel that during the course of 40 years of wandering in the desert, He was there every step of the way, and provided for their every need.

He has watched over your journey through this vast desert.
These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. -Deuteronomy 2:7

Although times have changed, God's character, faithfulness, compassion and guidance have not. He is still pursuing us and leading us through our deserts.