The Gift of the Present Moment
Henri Nouwen wrote an excellent book called Here and Now in which he seeks to give a holistic view of the Christian life by expounding on the present reality as a means to commune with God. Every aspect of our day-to-day lives is a gift which, if yielded to, can move our hearts and minds into a deeper level of love and communion with the triune God. Jesus said it similarly when He said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Mt. 6:34). He was stressing the importance of being aware of the present moment and not worrying about the future.
One of the highlights of the onething’09 conference, for me, was the revelation that I, along with this generation, was designed and fashioned to be alive and in union with Christ for such a time as this. Every believer in every generation is made for a specific purpose, for a specific time frame. God has made all things beautiful in their time, and the time of trouble that is coming upon the whole earth will likewise be made beautiful through the message of the gospel of the kingdom that will be declared by those prepared for that specific day and hour.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion . . . 10 The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isa. 52:7–8, 10)
Rightly did Isaiah prophesy that God had this specific generation in mind when He declared that His house would be a house of prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7). God is doing a new thing in the earth, and He is raising up houses of prayer all over the world to actively participate with His heart in preparing the peoples for the return of His son.
Each of us, in all walks of life, in every workplace, in every field of education, in all denominations, and in all nations, has an invitation to partner with the Lord as He releases His purposes in the earth. This is not about where you are from or how gifted you may be, it is about being alive on the planet right now, with a heart on fire for the things of God. There is no limit to what the Lord can do through an empty vessel, fully surrendered to His love. Now is the time for all of God’s people to join in His work of preparing the earth for the culmination and climax of this present age, the return of His son Jesus!
