The secret to finding peace in a future-focused world.

If you can’t already tell, I am a planner. I like to know what I am doing today, tomorrow, next month, ten years from now. It’s an unhealthy habit to break, and it certainly doesn’t bring me peace.

But lately, God has been showing me that this planning attribute is causing me to not be present in life. My lack of being present is turning into a lack of contentment with the here and now.

When we always think of the future, we are never really here. And what I have found is that we are always here, with life always happening right in front of us, not in the future. How we spend our present is ultimately how we spend our future (this kind of makes my mind swirl).

Ben Rector’s wise advice.

The other day I was listening to Ben Rector because he is the best, and one of his songs came on my shuffle. It’s called “Peace”, and there were some lyrics that seriously caught my attention.

Saying I want peace, it’s where I am now
It’s the only thing I haven’t found, somehow
There are other places, there are a million pretty faces
But I want peace, it’s where I am now
I used to worry about the future, but the future never came
Tried livin’ in the past, but never did quite feel the same
I used to think that there was a place I would rather be
‘Til I got there enough times to realize that you are only ever here

Ben Rector, “Peace”

When I heard the “I used to worry about the future, but the future never came”, I felt like good ole Ben was looking into my soul. It is beautiful that music can sometimes know you.

Peace is not a destination, but a choice.

I wanted to have peace, like any normal person. But when I heard this song, I realized that peace is not a destination – but a mindset. It’s not something you can achieve or something that happens when you finally get something or somewhere in life. It does not come with a husband, job security, or a Chanel bag. Even though all of these things are lovely.

I figured if I just had a husband, if I just had a summer internship, if I just knew where I was living after college – then I would have peace. So I worried about these aspects, because I felt if I worried about them I would figure them out, and then voila. Peace would arrive on my doorstep wrapped in a pretty bow because finally, all of the right things were in right place.

But truthfully, even if we do get all those things stated above, it’s not enough to grant us true serenity, true freedom, true contentment. Something will always not be right. But what never changes is God’s love, which is surprisingly more fulfilling than any Chanel bag or summer internship.

So when I heard this, I realized I needed to be present. But how do I do that when I am such a planner and orderly freak? I have a few points to help us future-minded folks out.

Be intentional with what is in front of you.

Something I really stinking admire about Ruth in the Bible is that while her life was falling apart and her husband died and she moved to a foreign place, she did not focus on finding another husband. She didn’t plan how things were going to get better for her, nor did she try to make a plan to get to a better place. She didn’t worry about her future, even though her present wasn’t looking too hot.

Instead, she just did the work in front of her. She harvested the fields and loved her mother in law, who was also grieving the loss of her husband.

And in this, a sweet man notices her! The wealthy landowner, Boaz, noticed Ruth working her butt off in the fields, and was totally into her. When she wasn’t looking for her husband, and that’s when she was noticed by a great guy. When she wasn’t trying to plan her future, God was working out the most wonderful outcome.

She let God be God. She did the work that God gave her to do, and then gave God the permission to work out the details.

Ruth was present.

I think we can all take away something from this. When we try to strategically plan things to go our way, they usually don’t. Or maybe that’s just something that happens to me.

But when we focus on doing the best job we can do, and loving those around us, God ultimately works out the desires of our heart. We don’t need to make something happen that God wants to bless us with.

I get it, we may not have the life we want right now. We may not be satisfied. But if we look to the work that God has given us to do, and love those around us, and keep our eyes fixed on him, he is going to provide the rest. We don’t need to stress about the future because it is ultimately in His hands.

Focus on doing the best you can with what’s in front of you.

When we focus on cultivating what we have been entrusted us with, it gives us something else to focus on other than the future.

This also includes being present with Jesus. Inviting him into your day to day routine. And when you find yourself going down the bunny trail of needing to figure your entire life out, or worrying that there are no periods at the end of the sentences, you can give these worries over to the Lord. Once you give them to him, it is much easier to be present with what’s in front of you.

Cast your worries and fears on him.

1 Peter 5:7 says this:

Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

I am not going to sit here and go, don’t worry and be present! This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to roll my eyes and take a big gulp of wine – because “not worrying” seems close to impossible for me.

We are human, so we will worry when things aren’t going right, or don’t look as we hoped.

But when we start to worry and not be present, we can bring that to Jesus. Even in the worry, we are still letting Jesus take the reigns of our fears, and we are being here with him.

This week, I encourage you to focus on being here. Not in what you’re going to do once you graduate college, not on who you are going to marry, and not on what you are going to name your kids. Instead, be right here. Live and love right here, focus on Jesus, and do the best you can with what is in front of you. And maybe, you just might find the peace were searching for all along.

What do you do to feel peace? Comment below!