Overview
Living in the moment means letting God meet you in the only time period you can actually interact with Him, which is now. Tony Washington lost a job when a startup ran into funding trouble and wanted God to hand him a twelve-step plan for the future. What he found instead in Matthew 6 is that God gives grace in daily increments. God feeds the fowls of the air day by day, He clothes grass that is burned tomorrow, and He rained manna one day at a time. Anxious concern is a product of anticipating a future you cannot live in, and His peace follows our commitment to live with Him in the moment called now.
Transcript
When the Job Ended: Learning to Live in the Moment
Recently, I was working for a startup and due to some funding issues, my job ended. So, which, as you can imagine, left me kind of in a jam, especially at my age. But anyway, in response to that, I got to a place where I wanted God to give me like this 12-step plan or something on what I needed to do to solve the dilemma. And so, naturally, you know, being in that situation, I had some concerns about the future and then, you know, felt discouraged at how it looked in the future.
And that’s when God started working in me to recognize the importance of living in the moment with Him, you know. And I started to recognize that you can’t really live in your future. And when you try to live in the future, it’s a heavy load. It’s really more of a load than we can carry. But I could decide instead to live in the moment and concern myself with the moment I was in. So, God works in us in the moment called now. And that is the only time period that we can interact with Him, if you think about it. So, you got to live in the moment.
Where Are You Living in This Moment of Time?
So, here’s my question for today. Where are you living at in this moment of time? Are you caught up in a past you cannot access that only exists in your memory? Or are you rashly trying to live in the future, anticipating events that haven’t happened yet or may not even happen at all?
So, what I want to show you today is that God gives us grace in daily increments in the moment called now. He meets us right now in the moment that we are in. And then His peace always follows our commitment to live with Him in the moment.
Matthew 6:25: What “Take No Thought” Really Means
So, we’re going to start today in Matthew 6, as you might expect, and verse 25, and it says, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life. And thought here is anxious concern. Obviously, we think about our lives, but this is referring to anxious concern. Take no thought, anxious concern, for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
And if you think about this, it’s talking about anxious concern, and anxiety and anxiousness are a product of anticipating the future. You know, when you live in the moment, then these kind of things aren’t going to come up. But when you’re trying to live in some future period, this is what happens.
How Worry Steals the Moment You Are In
And then what happens is worry or concern, whatever you want to call it, anxious concern, worry, just steals away the moment that we’re in. You know, it distracts us. We’re focusing on a time period that God doesn’t want us to function or to try to figure out, right? So, God solves our future needs by working in us today, right, in the moment that’s called now.
When you’re distracted with concerns, or when you have worries, when you have these things going through your mind, or you’re trying to live in some other time period, what happens is we become distracted. And then we miss the life that is happening right now. You know, like our interactions with people, if we’re not in the moment, and we’re not present, then we don’t really hear, we don’t really see, we don’t really appreciate even, you know, the creation itself, and the wonder and the beauty of it. We miss it when our minds are so heavily engaged in some other time period than the time period that we’re in.
Behold the Fowls of the Air: God Provides in the Day You Are In
So, and then it says in verse 26, Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? So, isn’t this interesting? It says, look at the birds, right? Look at the fowls of the air, they don’t sow, right? They don’t reap, they don’t gather into barns.
In other words, God is their provision in the day that they’re in. You know, that’s the lesson for us, is that God provides what they need in the moment that they’re in. He doesn’t require them to stockpile. He doesn’t have a, you know, amount of food sitting somewhere that they go to. He promised to supply their daily provision. And that’s the lesson for us too.
Which of You by Taking Thought: What Do We Actually Control?
And then it says in verse 27, Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And you know, what this makes me think of is, what is it that you and I — now think about it — what is it that we actually control?
You know, we want to, as human beings, I get it, we want to control things. We want to, you know, that’s why we get caught up in anxious concerns and distractions. We want to try to control it and make it work out and make it happen. And really, what do we control? Not much. Not much.
You know, we can control our minds. We can control our expectations. We can believe God in situations. But other than that, you know, like Jesus Christ himself said that of his own self, he could do nothing. Right? He recognized God was his daily source of provision, so he could live in the moment with God. That’s the reality.
Consider the Lilies: God’s Provision Versus Our Self-Striving
Now look at verse 28, And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. That’s important. Right? And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. So really what this is contrasting is God’s provision for us versus our own self-striving. Right? And that’s when we get into trouble when we live in other time periods, you know, when we start to try to strive to make things happen and force things.
And the lesson that we’re reading about today is that God’s going to provide in the moment that we’re in. God works in us to do what we need to do today. And you know what? That we can handle. You know, when you live in the moment with God, that we can handle. It’s not too heavy of a load. It’s just what concerns you at this moment of time, or what should you be doing in this moment of time, or not doing, right? But the reality is trying to live in the day, in the moment that you’re in.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Grass of the Field
And then verse 30 says, Wherefore, if God so — now listen to the wording — if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Isn’t that interesting? It’s like here today gone tomorrow, but God’s provision is still for today. It says, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, right? So God takes care of today, but then it’s gone tomorrow.
And you know, I read that in their culture, they would often burn grass like in ovens, you know, it was kind of like a refuse product. But the point here is that God provides the provision for today, for right now, even for something as simple as grass that’s going to be discarded and used up in the future, right?
And also God doesn’t give us the whole picture. You know, I have this desire to understand exactly where my job’s coming from naturally, right? But the reality is God promised to take care of me today. And today is the only moment I really need to concern myself with. And that’s right now.
Manna in the Wilderness: Gathering a Certain Rate Every Day
Take a look at Exodus. You’ll recognize this part of this scripture. Exodus 16, and then it says in verse four of 16, Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
So, you know, this record, this is where God supplying manna from heaven in the wilderness to feed his people. But did you notice how he does it? He did it one day at a time. He wanted, he was teaching the children of Israel to depend on him daily in the moment that they’re in, you know, that they didn’t have to have a big storehouse of stuff built up. Matter of fact, if they tried to store the manna, it rotted. So it’s like, you can’t — oh, maybe I’ll get five today to make sure we’re covered for tomorrow. No, it doesn’t work that way.
That was the lesson that God was teaching them. It focused on the day, focused on the moment that you’re in right now. And that’s where the happiness and the blessing is with God. It’s being in the moment with him.
Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God
Now, if you look back at Matthew six, we’ll close out of Matthew, Matthew chapter six and in verse 31, it says, or verse 32, For after all these things do the Gentiles seek — the unbelievers. Like in other words, everybody, all people have these needs, you know, to be clothed and, you know, even clothed is not clothed in a sense of just your clothing. It’s whatever provision you need. So it says, after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
And I’ve always loved that verse because what it’s really saying is like focus on the source. You know, stay connected to the source of your life. That’s when all these things are gonna come to pass and happen for you. But it’s in the moment. Cause it says in verse 34, Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Right?
In other words, you have enough going on in your mind. You have enough in the contest to deal with that really the ideal way to do it is just to function in terms of today. Don’t rashly start anticipating what might happen tomorrow and then start striving and doing behaviors based on what might happen tomorrow. Instead decide to live in the day.
Exhort One Another Daily, While It Is Called Today
Look at Hebrews chapter three, please. Hebrews three. This is interesting. Hebrews chapter three. And in verse 13, it says, But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. So, exhort one another daily while it’s called today, right?
And what’s so interesting to me about this is that the adversary, as you know, he’s always trying to stack things on us or distract us or get us all clouded up in our thinking with concerns or various distractions and the things that come up. We’re not paying attention. If you live in the moment that you’re in, you can recognize the error, right? So like when you’re just, you’re staying present in the moment and you’re thinking thoughts, you recognize that thought, hmm, that doesn’t come from God, right? And then you can correct it in the moment.
But if you don’t live in the moment, if you live distracted and you’re carrying around all this stuff that you don’t need to carry around, then you don’t see it, you know? Then you feel like, what’s the matter with me? Like, why am I struggling? What is going on? The reality is, is that we just miss it because we weren’t living in the moment. But when you live in the moment that you’re in aligned with God in that moment called now, that’s when you can really, that’s how you can really get blessed.
This Is the Day Which the Lord Hath Made
Look at Psalm 118, please. Psalm 118 says, can you get there? In verse 24, it says, This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. And isn’t that interesting that this is the day the LORD hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. See, we can do that when we stay in the day that we’re in. You know, we can rejoice no matter what’s going on circumstance-wise, we can rejoice in the day that we’re in, in the moment called now, which is the only time that we can interact with God.
You know, even the manifestation of Holy Spirit, if you think about it, you can only do now. You know, you can receive revelation from God now. You can speak in tongues now, right? You can decide to do it now. But that’s really the only moment you can live in.
Perfect Peace for a Mind Stayed on God
How about Isaiah 26? This is kind of a famous verse. And it says in Isaiah 26, in verse three, it says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. And if you think about it, you can only stay your mind on God in the moment that you’re in. And then that’s where the peace comes from.
You can’t collectively stay your mind on God for the next day of the year, only the moment that you’re in. But if you live in that moment with God, you know, as your provision, as your source, as your supplier, that’s when you get access to his peace because you’re trusting him in the moment that you’re in.
Be Still: Cease From Striving and Relax Your Grip
And then I’d like to close today in Psalm 46. Psalm 46, and in verse 10, it says, Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen. So be still and know that I am God. And what’s interesting here is still in this context means to cease from striving, to let go, to relax your grip on life. You know, like I said earlier, we don’t have to control anything. We don’t control it anyway, right? But we can control what we think. We can control that we still keep believing God to meet our needs. But sometimes you just got to relax your grip.
To be still is also to stop trying to control, stop rehearsing scenarios, stop trying to manage future risks, right? It’s just slow down to the moment you’re in and you’ll find God’s very present help in times of trouble.
So you can only live in the moment that you’re in. You can’t live in yesterday. You can’t live tomorrow. You can’t even live five minutes from now. But if you focus your mind and attention on living in the moment that you’re in, moment by moment, all of those moments will add up to a beautiful life. Amen.
Key Takeaways
- God works in us in the moment called now, and that is the only time period in which we can interact with Him.
- Anxiety and anxiousness are a product of anticipating the future; “take no thought” in Matthew 6:25 means anxious concern, not ordinary thinking.
- Worry steals away the moment we are in, so we miss the life happening right now, including the people in front of us.
- The fowls of the air, the lilies of the field and the manna in Exodus 16 all teach the same thing: God supplies provision one day at a time.
- Perfect peace in Isaiah 26:3 belongs to a mind stayed on God, and you can only stay your mind on God in the moment you are in.
- To be still is to cease from striving: stop trying to control, stop rehearsing scenarios, stop trying to manage future risks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to live in the moment with God?
It means concerning yourself with the moment you are in rather than a past you cannot access or a future that may never happen. God works in us in the moment called now, and that is the only time period in which we can interact with Him. God gives grace in daily increments, He meets us right now in the moment that we are in, and His peace always follows our commitment to live with Him in the moment.
What does “take no thought” mean in Matthew 6:25?
Thought here is anxious concern. Obviously we think about our lives, but this verse is referring to anxious concern, and anxiety and anxiousness are a product of anticipating the future. Worry steals away the moment we are in and distracts us, so we miss the life that is happening right now. God solves our future needs by working in us today, in the moment that is called now.
What does “be still” mean in Psalm 46:10?
Still in this context means to cease from striving, to let go, to relax your grip on life. To be still is also to stop trying to control, stop rehearsing scenarios, and stop trying to manage future risks. It is slowing down to the moment you are in, where you find God as a very present help in times of trouble.
Scripture References
Matthew 6:25-30; Exodus 16:4,5; Matthew 6:32-34; Hebrews 3:13; Psalm 118:24; Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 46:10
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
