Caught Up in Anticipation

When I was younger, I loved reading the Nancy Drew mystery books. I enjoyed the excitement of piecing together the clues and details to try to figure out the ending. Most of the time, I was completely wrong and the ending was way more creative and exciting than my foolish guesses. Though I enjoyed the suspense, my mom used to tell me that she would often skip to the last chapter and read the ending because she hated having to wait to figure it out. And I would think to myself, "Mom, you're missing the fun of awaiting the ending. You're missing the whole story". By reading the last chapter, she wasn't able to appreciate the little details and seemingly insignificant events that led to that ending.

Recently, I've really been thinking about our patience with God's will for us. I use the term "God's will" or "God's plan" all of the time. And usually, I only throw it out when talking about big events in my life--what career he wishes me to pursue, why my family members are having to go through suffering, who he is preparing to be my future spouse, how and to whom he wishes me to be a witness in the future, etc. But the truth is that for me, and maybe for you, sometimes I get so wrapped up in trying to figure out the ending that I forget about the many details and seemingly insignificant events that are taking place in the present that will lead up to the ending. I am so caught up in the action of anticipation that I forget to enjoy my current participation.

I think this is common. We focus so much on the future that we completely forget about the present. We forget that God is working in and through us daily and that he has a will for us in each passing moment. We must ask ourselves: are we missing out on being used by God in the present because we are so focused on the future? Are we so focused on the struggles we foresee in the future that we fail to see the need for us to help those suffering in our midst us today? Are we so focused on saying yes to God in a few months or years that we fail to see the ways he is asking us to say yes to him today?

God's will for us is to know, love, and serve him daily. How can we re-commit to participating in this daily will instead of only anticipating his future will? Maybe his will for us today is to have patience with annoying roommates. Maybe his will is for us to come to him in prayer with our worries and stresses instead of trying to fix problems ourselves. Maybe his will is for us to give up time in our busy lives to call a family member who just needs to chat. Instead of wanting to skip to the end, let us enjoy the beautiful way our Lord is working in us today. Let us recognize that the interactions and experiences of this day serve as our preparation for the future.

Loving God, we thank you for the way that you prepare us for your future plans. We thank you for this day--an opportunity to be used and loved by you. We ask you to give us the grace to fully participate in your work today instead of only anticipating our futures. Give us the grace to daily consecrate our work, our interactions, and our desires to you, acknowledging that the future you have planned for us is better than the one we have envisioned for ourselves. We ask this in your Holy Name. Amen.