We must learn to give attention to the great things we cannot yet see.
In my recent book, The Lord Give You Peace: A 28-Day Journey To Thrive In God’s Shalom, I write that “Part of what it means to be created within the image of God is that we human beings have the incredible capability to be proleptic. To be proleptic is to explain a future event as if it had already happened, as happening before it could have done so. It is treating something as if it exists, regardless that it doesn’t yet exist.”[1]
Genesis 1:2 is a prolepsis: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”[2] This describes the earth as existing regardless that it doesn’t exist…yet. Whatever was there was shrouded in darkness and covered with primordial oceans. The not-yet-existent Earth was a chaotic mess, unshaped and unlit, void of intelligence, purpose, and meaning. But when God hovered over this tumult, He saw the earth in all its present glory. He saw what couldn’t be seen except in His own mind. Then he spoke it into existence. And from the ugly disorder of what was not the earth…yet, got here the order and fantastic thing about what’s the earth…now.
You have the God given ability to be proleptic as well. Sadly, we human beings are likely to give attention to the negative, disordered, ugly, dark, and even chaotic circumstances of our lives. We can select, nonetheless, to give attention to the great and exquisite possibilities that might be ours, based on the guarantees of God through His Word. These guarantees and positive potentialities often exist in our minds before they’re lived and physically realized. But we’d like to focus our faith, prayers, and words on these not-yet-existent but coming-soon realities.
This is an element of what I take into consideration after I meditate on the peace the Lord gives. I take into consideration how often in Scripture His peace is promised. I remind myself that the biblical concept of peace is predicated on the Hebrew word and concept shalom. I reflect on the indisputable fact that shalom is “the harmonious working together of each a part of our lives in alignment with God‘s good intentions, bringing holistic well-being, productive flourishing, and comfortable success.” [3] And I give attention to this: “To bring shalom to a disordered world, to disordered lives, and to disordered circumstances, we must see peace, where peace just isn’t yet. We must hover over discord and ugliness and know it can be arranged into something congruous and exquisite. And then we must act to create the truth that doesn’t yet exist, except in our God-infused minds. We must think proleptically and act assertively to bring shalomic realities into being.”[4]
2 Ways to Fix Our Focus On the “Not Yet.”
1. Focus on the chance, not the issue.
When we obsessively give attention to a negative circumstance, we oxygenate negativity. This is true because it regards every area of our lives, including our mental health. As everyone knows, there may be a proliferation of hysteria, depression, and various mood disorders in our world today. A give attention to how anxious we’re, or how blue we feel, fuels anxiety and depression. I say this with a deep concern for individuals who are affected by any mental health issues.
In his groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman writes that “Worry doesn’t work all that well. New solutions and fresh ways of seeing an issue don’t typically come from worrying, especially chronic worry.”[5] He posits that chronic worriers worry about many things, most of which is able to never occur. And he tells a story about how an individual fueled their worry by worrying about worrying. “A girl being treated for ‘generalized anxiety disorder’– the psychiatric nomenclature for being a relentless worrier – responded to the request to fret aloud for one minute this manner: ‘I won’t do that right. This could also be so artificial that it won’t be a sign of the true thing, because if we don’t get at the true thing, I won’t recover. And if I don’t recover, I’ll never be comfortable.”[6]
The point is that it is never, if ever, helpful to give attention to an issue, even when the issue is real and painful. This doesn’t mean that we must always act as if the challenges we face aren’t difficult. That just isn’t helpful either. Rather, we must always acknowledge the challenges we face while specializing in the guarantees of God to bring higher realities into each situation. We should give attention to shalomic possibilities. God desires to bring us His peace in every area of our lives.
When Paul offered his famous prescription for anxiety in Philippians 4, he not only said… “Don’t worry about anything; as an alternative, pray about all the things. Tell God what you wish, and thank him for all he has done. Then you’ll experience God‘s peace, which exceeds anything we are able to understand”[7]…he also said…“Fix your thoughts on what’s true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and wonderful, and admirable. Think about things which might be excellent and worthy of praise”[8] (Philippians 4:6-9 NLT). So friends, we must acknowledge the issues we face but focus on the great, even when the great we seek just isn’t good yet.”
As we discussed above, God saw the earth as existing even when it only existed in His own mind. Now consider this: After He spoke what He saw into existence, we’re told that “…no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord had not sent rain on the earth…”[9] Let’s give attention to the word “yet.” Was the earth flourishing on this passage? Not yet. But it was about to. Why? Because that’s what God wanted it to do, and He was about to intervene to make it occur.
You may take a look at your life and see things that aren’t as they should be. Things which might be less fairly than more. Chaotic fairly than ordered. Ugly fairly than beautiful. Barren fairly than productive. You should think that these items aren’t as they should be yet.
Maybe it’s like this: “I don’t have the financial breakthrough yet. I actually have not received the promotion yet. My adult child has not come back to their faith yet. My marriage just isn’t all that it ought to be yet. My anxiety just isn’t completely gone yet.”
Focus on the great you think in, in keeping with God’s guarantees. Hover over the chance even when it is barely real in your individual God inspired mind. Someday soon, “not yet” will turn into as real as this glorious planet God first saw in His mind after which spoke into existence. Your life will likely be a manifestation of the shalom that God wants for you and has made possible through the work of Jesus, who guarantees you “real and everlasting life, more and higher life than you ever dreamed of.”[10] I encourage you today; give attention to that.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/shironosov
[1] The Lord Give You Peace: A-28 Day Journey to Thrive in God’s Shalom, Terry A. Smith, pg. 46
[2] Genesis 1:2 NIV
[3] The Lord Give You Peace: A-28 Day Journey to Thrive in God’s Shalom, Terry A. Smith, pg. 15
[4] The Lord Give You Peace: A-28 Day Journey to Thrive in God’s Shalom, Terry A. Smith, pg. 47
[5] Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, pg. 67
[6] Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, pg. 66-67
[7] Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[8] Philippians 4:8 NLT
[9] Genesis 2:5 NIV
[10] John 10:10 MSG
A gifted communicator and cofounder of The New York City Leadership Center (now Movement.org), Terry speaks in a wide range of national and international venues, inspiring others to find and pursue the life God dreams for them. (www.terryasmith.com)
He is the best-selling creator of The Lord Give You Peace: A 28-Day Journey to Thrive in God’s Shalom; The Lord Bless You: A 28-Day Journey to Experience God’s Extravagant Blessings; The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish; and Live Ten: Jumpstart the Best Version of Your Life. He can also be the host of The Life God Dreams For You with Terry A. Smith & The Life Christian Church on WMCA 570AM & 102.3 FM, on Sunday mornings at 9am EST (www.tlcc.org/dreams)
