God’s not-so-secret-agent

One of the mindfulness processes is to live in the present moment. This is about being aware of the moment that you are living in at any time. It requires an engagement with whatever is in your vicinity or viewpoint as it is happening. This is well worth practicing but in reality it is quite hard to do. Our minds tend to wander and we get caught in daydreams or reliving past moments or we disengage and walk through life on autopilot as we navigate difficult moments. But even our daydreams can be present focused when we connect to God. I am going to suggest that by connecting with God and hearing His voice I become God’s not-so-secret-agent on this earth. This is such a positive life giving activity that it is worth pursuing God just to hear His voice.

By connecting with God, I bring my focus into the here and now. God is timeless and yet He occupies the present. When we mull on the events of the past; we relive our most painful or traumatic memories or perhaps our sweetest moments, we are not being present focused. Alternatively we can live in our imagination of the future- for example, fearing a catastrophe or building a future empire.  Both of these mind activities detracts from living fully engaged in the present moment unless I bring God into the picture.

The writer of the book of Hebrews described Jesus as the same yesterday today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Later in the book of Revelations, Jesus calls himself- the Alpha and Omega- a reference to the beginning and the end. These time-based words signify that Jesus as God is unchanging and timeless- He was present at the beginning of time and will be present at the end of time. When I bring my fears of catastrophe to Jesus- I am being present focused. I trust the Unchanging One who knows the future, to have an answer for my fears. I hear words of comfort in my mind – “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5),“My perfect love casts out your fear”(1 John 4:18) and “For I have not given you a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). So I can leave my fears with Jesus and rest on his promises to be with me.

Jesus when he walked on this earth spoke multiple times of only doing what the Father told him to do. When Jesus began his ministry his own family and village were perplexed.  At his inauguration speech in Nazareth, Jesus got up and read from a familiar passage in Isaiah 61. He knew that this was his mission statement. His assignment was written out hundreds of years before by the prophet Isaiah. Jesus was on a mission to do the mandate of his Heavenly Father- to heal the sick, to set free captives, to open blind eyes and make the deaf hear and declare God’s kingdom on earth. But only a few people in his home town understood the significance. Yet Jesus intentionally turned towards his destiny in Jerusalem, as the same prophet Isaiah, foretold of the suffering Messiah who dies to save many (Isaiah 53).

Jesus lived on this earth intentionally in the present moment. He recognised that each day and week and month had an ebb and flow. There were times of increased activity and times of slowing down. He had sick people coming to him at all hours and then he withdrew to a quiet place. There were times of speaking to crowds for hours and missing meals and then times of sailing in a boat for a distant shore. There were times of just walking and talking with his disciples, and then there were times of feasting and enjoying life with new friends in new places.   Yet in all these times Jesus connected with his Heavenly Father. Jesus intentionally embraced his death at the cross to pay the price for our sins with his blood. In doing so Jesus fully completed his mission on earth. Nothing was left undone. “It is finished,” he said from the cross.

When Jesus left this earthly life, he commissioned his followers to do the things he did and even more than he did. He left his disciples to be his agents on this earth. They were open in who and what they were doing so they were not secret.  How do I become God’s not-so-secret agent? Agents need to keep in contact with their “handler” for the most up to date information from headquarters. In the same way I need to have continuous connection with my Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit residing in me giving me the most up to date information for my day to day tasks.  My mandate from Heaven includes the same things that Jesus did- to heal the sick and to preach the gospel and make disciples, while living an intentional life of a son or daughter of God.

I know that my connection to Jesus is the most important aspect of fulfilling my mandate. Jesus said that if we abide in Him we can do the things He did. But if we don’t abide in Him we are like a branch that is cut off from the vine and doesn’t produce any fruit and we can do nothing (John 15). So my most important Christian mindful task is to abide in Jesus in every moment.

I am aware that each day has a plan for good works that God intends for me to do. I live in the moment by moment realisation that if there is something for me to do then the Holy Spirit will bring it to my attention at the time I need to know and at the place I have the ability to do something about it. It is my intention to be attentive for the prompts from the Holy Spirit. I don’t always succeed in this however.

One day as I was driving to work, I had a daydream about the patient I was about to see. It was quite unusual because in this daydream I was speaking to this person about God and each part of the conversation was shown to me. I thought that the Holy Spirit was prompting me to pray for this person. I don’t usually speak about God in my consulting room and would not do so unless asked by the patient. So I prayed, “Lord if you want me to speak to this man, will you get him to ask me about You?” Then I heard a still small voice, “His mother is praying for him,” and I knew this was the voice of God preparing me to speak to this man.

An hour later as I was finishing my consultation with this man, I asked-“Do you have any questions for me?” He replied, “My mother has been bugging me about faith, what does faith mean to you?” And the next half hour I spoke naturally about God to this confessed atheist. He didn’t change his mind about God that day but went away with alternative ways to consider God.  My prayer is that these words as seeds have been planted into his soul. One day they will sprout into a faith that grows as others water the seeds with their words and finally the Holy Spirit tugs at his soul so convincingly that he finds God for himself.

God transcended the principles of time and gave me a glimpse of something from the future.  This memory has been fixed in my mind of a moment where I became God’s not-so-secret agent to a man who clearly needed to hear that God loved him. God heard his mother’s prayer and organised to show me the conversation with her son ahead of time. I had the opportunity to hear and obey at that moment and I am glad that I did. I haven’t always succeeded so my prayer is to hear God clearly and obey boldly because I know when I do that I cannot fail in my mission.

Are you willing to be God’s not-so-secret agent? It may mean being in a constant connection with your Heavenly Father in prayer. It may mean not being as worried about tomorrow and the things which have yet to happen. It might mean letting go of the endless rumination about the things which have already happened. Be thankful that each day is a new opportunity to connect with the Divine and to be aware that He has a task for you to do that He knows you cannot fail.