Be Here

One thing the Lord has been speaking to me over and over again in this season is a simple two word command: “Be here.” I am part of a generation that has gotten itself sucked into something our grandfathers would have never imagined and I believe, would have abhorred. It’s the propensity to not be where we are. And unfortunately, that is enabled by the very thing that lies next to our heads every night, the very thing that travels with us everywhere we go, the very thing that is always at our fingertips—our phones. I am not condemning phones or the advantages they provide. The communication available through phones is quite frankly phenomenal. However, I have been in so many situations, sitting in a room full of friends, going out to dinner with my family, and what am I doing? I am existing in another realm, completely oblivious to what is going on around me, and texting someone thousands of miles away, who I could probably text later when I’m not in a room full of friends or out with my family. I am not “here,” I am “there.” And that, I believe, is not the Lord’s heart.

When we do this not only is it incredibly rude and boring for the people we are with who are being considerate and not texting someone somewhere else (If you do this, don’t think I’m condemning you, we have all done it…a lot…), but it steals from us. We miss out on the very people the Lord has put in our lives at this precise moment in time. There is a reason you are where you are. There is a reason you are with the people you are with. I read once (I think in this book) that there is no one you cannot learn something from, and I think it’s true. But how can we learn from people we ignore, preferring instead to communicate only with the people we choose to communicate with, those on the other ends of our phones?  

Part of “being here,” is recognizing the gift of where you are. That means recognizing that you are where you are at the moment you are because the Lord has something for you in it. And you will probably miss it if your head is buried in your phone. Part of “being here,” is being grateful for where you are. If you recognize that it is a gift to be where you are, wherever you are and with whomever you are, you will be grateful for it. If you spend your hours existing in another realm, investing more in what is on your phone (or on the other side of your phone) than in the people around you, you are missing out, my friend. I want to learn from people, I want to bless people, I want to be challenged by people, I want to enjoy people. And the people the Lord has put me with at this time are the ones He wants to use right now for those purposes.

I’m not saying don’t invest in friendships with people you can only communicate with through technology. I have a lot of friendships like that, and I am so thankful for technology that allows me to keep in contact with those friends because I’m not willing to let those friendships go. But I am saying, don’t sacrifice the relationships with the people in the same room as you to do it. I believe relationships are eternal and that one day we will be held accountable for how we have handled them. Let’s get the balance right and invest the best way possible.