The American Psychology Association defines mindfulness as: ‘Awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings.’ Meaning you are present, in the moment and fully aware of what you are doing and what’s happening around you. Not always easy to do when there’s a zillion distractions scampering for attention.
I know there have been times when I may have been physically present but that was only a holographic projection of me, the real me was miles away. There have even been times when I’ve been so distracted that I’m looking at my phone while watching TV.
But after studying the book of Proverbs and gaining knowledge from all the wisdom contained in it, I understand the preciousness of life. As a result, I’ve been taking great pains to make sure I am in the moment. And I’m proud to say I have made progress in this area…when it comes to my relationships with people, anyway. The area that I still stumble a bit is my relationship with God. I’ve never really equated mindfulness with God for some reason, until this summer anyway. Where I was reminded how easily I can become distracted and miss God working in my life.
My Summer Epiphany
As I mentioned briefly in the posts The Thursday Call and Prayer: Hope in Uncertainty our family went through a very difficult time during the summer. To process my feelings, I started a journal to chronicle that time. Writing out my thoughts gives me insight into behavior and emotions, and helps me be more empathetic with others. Often I will also journal my prayers. And one day while journaling, I had an epiphany. It’s amazing how the Spirit brings to mind the things of God.
Turns out, I was so busy looking for God to answer, straining my ears to hear even the tiniest whisper and wondering why we kept hitting one closed door after the other, that I wasn’t mindful of what God was doing.
Do you know that during those long hard days filled with hopelessness that I woke up every morning with a song on my mind? Various different worship songs, sometimes it could be the same song but a different stanza would be playing in my mind. I would subconsciously hum those lines throughout the entire day. The songs talked about God’s faithfulness, power and presence. It made me shift my focus away from our bleak circumstances and remind me of the awesomeness of God.
They were like lembas bread from the J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books. If you aren’t familiar with Lord of the Rings lore, lembas bread was bread made by the elves. It is said just a bite would be able to sustain you for several days. That’s what these songs did for me, they sustained me. They taught me to be thankful even when everything looked bleak. They kept my eyes focused on Jesus and not my circumstances. And had I not taken the time to sit quietly and listen, I would’ve missed what God was doing in my life.
Lamentations 3:22-23 says that ‘[t]he faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” God’s love never ends and his mercies are new every morning but unless we take the time to be mindful, we can easily miss it.
What are some ways God has worked in your life that you would’ve missed had you not been mindful?