Now – and Again and Again…
Our life on earth is not endless, and it is certainly unpredictable. Scripture reminds us that our life is “but a mist,” appearing for a little while and then vanishing. That alone makes every moment valuable.
Jesus once told a story about a man who said to himself:
“You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.” (Luke 12:19–20)
James gives a similar warning:
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow… What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:13–14)
Recently, the Lord has had me thinking about something that might seem simple, even obvious.
I’ve been thinking about the word: NOW. 
Now is incredibly small, yet it is also endless. It feels momentary, yet it continues moment after moment until our story on earth ends.
Right now is the only time we actually live.
Every opportunity we seize—or miss—happens in a now.
Our lives are simply a long string of nows connected together. When those nows are finished, so is our earthly life.
Yet how often do we live in the “not now”?
Our minds drift to the past with regret, or to the future with worry and planning. Meanwhile, the present moment—the only moment we truly live—is missed.
When that happens, we can slowly shift from living… to merely existing.
That realization alone is worth sitting with.
Think about what could be happening right now. The possibilities are endless. Someone is brushing their teeth. Someone is praying. Someone is laughing with a child. Someone is scratching their nose.
Right now, I am writing these words.
Right now, you are reading them.
Now what?
If now is the only time we live, and if our life is simply a chain of nows, then every now carries tremendous value.
But while thinking about this, another realization came to me.
There are some things that are always happening in every single now.
God.
Though we are made in His image, God is not like us.
He is infinite. We are not. He is not confined the way we are.
We are limited in what we can do in a single moment. God is not.
While we can only focus on a few things at once, God is doing countless things at the same time, everywhere, in every life, in every moment.
In every now that we experience:
- He is present
- He is holy
- He is working all things for good for those who love Him
- He is completing the good work He began in us
- He is directing our steps
- He is fulfilling His promises
- He is hearing and will respond to every prayer
- He is loving every person and desires that none would perish
- He is attentive to each of His children
- At this very moment—right now—He knows the number of hairs on your head and on the heads of every person alive.
- At this very moment He sees the butterfly flying, the insect crawling, the ocean waves forming, the prayers being whispered.
He is never distracted. Never overwhelmed. Never late.
In every now… He is fully Himself.
While much of life feels uncertain, God is not uncertain. What He is doing is not uncertain.
Recently, I have been asking the Holy Spirit to teach me—to help me live with greater awareness of this reality.
Scripture says:
“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.” (Exodus 13:21)
And:
“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
The best way I can describe what I am learning is this:
It feels like living inside a cloud.
Almost like a bubble within the busyness of life where I am becoming more conscious of Him and what He is doing right now whether I see, hear or feel it.
That awareness brings a sense of wonder, peace, and expectation. Because if God truly is who He says He is, then He is already working toward “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)
Not a cloud of confusion—but a cloud of awareness. A constant awareness that God is present, active, and working in every moment of my life.
God is a constant.
My role is not to control every outcome.
My role is to let Him be Him. 
To trust.
To surrender.
To remain aware.
To live this now with Him.
There is an old spiritual book titled ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ written by an anonymous author centuries ago. It speaks about our inability to fully comprehend God through our limited human reasoning. He is otherly.
Perhaps what I am describing is something like the companion thought:
Not the Cloud of Unknowing…
but the Cloud of Knowing.
Knowing what God is always doing.
Knowing who He always is.
Knowing that He is present in every moment.
Wondering, If truth is always true, why shouldn’t we live it? We can and we should.
The Kingdom of God is not only a future promise—it can be a present reality when we allow Him to be who He is in every moment of our lives.
Maybe the journey of faith is simply learning to live each now with Him.
We have to go—to know.
Or maybe… we have to let go.
Praying for all of us who desire to know Him more and grow in Him more with every passing now.
TG