I would consider myself to be an over-thinker. I think about stuff a lot. I think especially since this is my last year of college, I've been spending a lot more time thinking about what the future holds. Catch my drift? Thoughts that fill my mind range from where I'll get a job after graduating, who I'm going to marry one day (Lord help me, but this is common thought - just being honest), where I'm going to live next year, when in the future I can get Chipotle, and so on. I often find myself pondering the what could be, rather than fully living in the moment. And when I'm thinking about what could be rather than what is, I've noticed that my focus is not on Christ. I know that these unfocused thoughts are ways the enemy tries to distract me from the plans that God has already declared over me; which are to prosper me and to give me a future and hope. So why am I concerned with what could be when I know that the Lord has perfectly planned my future? This is the question that I know God is blatantly asking me every time I realize my thoughts are not rooted in his promises.

The other day, I was spending a good portion of it thinking about the future and what could be. Don't get me wrong, I don't just sit around and think all the time, but when I tend to get distracted I've noticed the idea of the future is exactly what my mind runs to. As I got ready to go to sleep that night, I decided to read the Jesus Calling entry for the day. These daily devotions are written in Jesus' point of view. This is what the entry said,

"Rejoice in Me always! No matter what is going on, you can rejoice in your Love-relationship with Me. This is the secret of being content in all circumstances. So many people dream of the day when they will finally be happy: when they are out of debt, when their children are out of trouble, when they have more leisure time, and so on. While they daydream, their moments are trickling into the ground like precious balm spilling wastefully from overturned bottles. Fantasizing about future happiness will never bring fulfillment because fantasy is unreality. Even though I am invisible, I am far more Real than the world you see around you. My reality is eternal and unchanging. Bring your moments to Me, and I will fill them with vibrant Joy. Now is the time to rejoice in My Presence!"

I can picture all of God's angels gathered around, looking down from heaven and clapping and cheering saying, "Go head God, you betta tell her what she needs to hear!"

There are so many good things that the Lord was teaching me in this moment. He was teaching me to take time to stop and listen to Him. He was teaching me that my contentment is not dictated by the things that will take place in my life on earth, but that my contentment is found in my relationship with Him and my hope in my eternal future. He was teaching me that the futile joy I find in thinking about what happiness lies ahead in the future, is nothing in comparison to the joy that He can bestow upon each moment and thought that I fully surrender to Him.

My hope and prayer is that our thoughts would be continually filled with the promises of God. I pray that our happiness and hope would be found in our relationship with Christ and not in a fantasy of the future. I pray that we would keep our ears open and take time to listen when God is speaking to us in the moments that we need to be refocused. Lord, help us respond with willing hearts. Thank you for loving us even when we stray away from you. Let our thoughts and everything in us rejoice in you. Amen.