Studies have shown that humans, for the most part, are unable to multi-task well. Although many of us would like to put our own ability up for debate, it’s biological. (Ask Google.)
While driving my car the other day with the radio playing, one of my favorite songs came on. In the meantime, I was on my way to the store, halted in the road because of a passing train, and grabbing my phone to look up ingredients for the recipe I was going shopping for.
Not to mention that using the Internet while in the driver seat is illegal (I'm sorry, Lord), I stopped and thought, “Wait, I like this song! I want to enjoy it while it’s on.” I put the phone down to take advantage of the moment--to listen, sing, and worship.
Why is it that we can feel bored--or rather, anxious, insecure, or in need--when we are not multi-tasking? Going back to nature in looking at God’s design, it seems that He created us so that we cannot physically multi-task well. I wonder if He did so because He wants us to understand and embrace the gift of a moment, to realize the miracle of the present, and to have full opportunity to experience the joy of now. God is a God of opportunity. Whether our now is a trial or joy, He allows such as opportunity to grow, experience, and do good. To live.
Living now engages the imagination--you hardly have to tell a child that. To live now can spark wonder. To live now, rather than attempting to speed up production--I was going to look at the recipe once I got to the store anyway--is a gift.
Concerning the concept of delight in Psalm 37:4 where the Psalmist said, “[d]elight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart,” it seems that we can experience God’s presence in each moment and behold that which He places in front of us. He wants us to live now.
The writer of 1 Timothy 6:17 wrote, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” If multitasking to be more productive is a myth, what’s not to say multitasking to enjoy the moment more isn’t the same way? What’s in your present that beckons your focus? What one thing or person has God placed before you--now--to enjoy?
The present moment is precious. James 4:14 says, “Yet you do now know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” When our presence is intentionally present in the present, we’re actually living life’s moments, and to live life seems to be a Psalm 37:4 “...[desire] of [the human] heart,” or mine at least.
May our presence embrace the precious present--to seize the opportunity of life in the now.
While driving my car the other day with the radio playing, one of my favorite songs came on. In the meantime, I was on my way to the store, halted in the road because of a passing train, and grabbing my phone to look up ingredients for the recipe I was going shopping for.
Not to mention that using the Internet while in the driver seat is illegal (I'm sorry, Lord), I stopped and thought, “Wait, I like this song! I want to enjoy it while it’s on.” I put the phone down to take advantage of the moment--to listen, sing, and worship.
Why is it that we can feel bored--or rather, anxious, insecure, or in need--when we are not multi-tasking? Going back to nature in looking at God’s design, it seems that He created us so that we cannot physically multi-task well. I wonder if He did so because He wants us to understand and embrace the gift of a moment, to realize the miracle of the present, and to have full opportunity to experience the joy of now. God is a God of opportunity. Whether our now is a trial or joy, He allows such as opportunity to grow, experience, and do good. To live.
Living now engages the imagination--you hardly have to tell a child that. To live now can spark wonder. To live now, rather than attempting to speed up production--I was going to look at the recipe once I got to the store anyway--is a gift.
Concerning the concept of delight in Psalm 37:4 where the Psalmist said, “[d]elight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart,” it seems that we can experience God’s presence in each moment and behold that which He places in front of us. He wants us to live now.
The writer of 1 Timothy 6:17 wrote, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” If multitasking to be more productive is a myth, what’s not to say multitasking to enjoy the moment more isn’t the same way? What’s in your present that beckons your focus? What one thing or person has God placed before you--now--to enjoy?
The present moment is precious. James 4:14 says, “Yet you do now know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” When our presence is intentionally present in the present, we’re actually living life’s moments, and to live life seems to be a Psalm 37:4 “...[desire] of [the human] heart,” or mine at least.
May our presence embrace the precious present--to seize the opportunity of life in the now.