be here now.

By the time summer came this year, most of my apartment had been packed in boxes for months. Earlier this year, I felt like God told me to pack my things, so I did. I didn’t know when or where, but apparently I’d be moving – and I wanted to be ready.

It all unfolded in a series of events over the course of a few months. Realizing my apartment situation wasn’t working out anymore, and then finding out that my friends would have a room available in the same month I’d need one.

I felt like I was just along for the ride as I watched, in awe, how God slid each detail into place. I found out what was happening. I found out where I’d be moving. And I found out it would be in August, but I was still waiting for confirmation on exactly when.

On the last Saturday in July, I stood in my kitchen thinking about how there was literally nothing else I could do to be any more prepared. The only things I hadn’t packed were things I literally used on a daily basis.

Maybe it was the fact that I’d been packed for months. Or that it was about to be a new month. Or that the new month would be moving month, even if I didn’t quite know which day would be moving day. Whatever it was, I felt ready. to. go. And a bit impatient.

It’s just not time yet.

Honestly, I feel like Holy Spirit has been reminding me about this for a long time, about multiple things, but it hit different that day. Because I was right. There wasn’t anything I could physically do to be any more prepared. I was ready to go. But I was still waiting. Not because of anything I needed to do, but because it just wasn’t time yet.

I thought about the house I’d be moving into and how the space wasn’t ready for me yet. The people who lived there, my friends who would be my future roommates, weren’t ready for me yet. I thought about what would happen if I showed up with boxes on that day in July and how disruptive and frustrating that would be – for everyone. It’s just too soon.

Sometimes that’s how it is. Sometimes it’s not that there is anything more to do or prepare. Sometimes it’s just not time yet. And while that statement makes me roll my eyes as much as the next person because it doesn’t give any actual answers, it’s the word “yet” that gets me.

“Yet” is so full of hope. There is a time. There is a date marked on the calendar. It is coming.

So what do I do now?

All of this went through my head in a matter of seconds as I poured my coffee that morning. The answer came quickly:

Be here now.

There is so much I could say about those two words, here now, but you know what I’ve learned the most? Sometimes the here and now isn’t that great, and I incessantly as God to move in different ways because I don’t want to be here now. But I’ve been practicing, because sometimes that’s all that’s left to do. Sometimes a Thursday is just a Thursday, but it still matters.

In spite of whatever bigger thing might be unfolding, this moment – right here, right now – still matters. Don’t forget to show up for it.

The power of God is in you, even on a Thursday.