Arriving

One of the things I have the hardest time not believing is life will better when _______. Some of the things I have subconsciously filled in the blank with in the past include: I get married. I lose weight. I have kids. I have the right number of kids. I find the perfect house. I remodel my house. I get this outfit. I get this bag. I get a full nights’ sleep. I have this kind of sex life. I have these kinds of friends. I earn this much money. I acquire this reputation at work.

Obviously it’s okay to look forward to things, but I can get to a point where I hinge a certain portion of my thought life on arriving at a certain material or circumstantial place that has nothing to do with godliness. And it’s subtle, so subtle it’s nearly subconscious.

It probably has to do with the fact that so much of earlier life is about arriving somewhere: passing a test, getting into a school, passing another test, getting into another school, etc. And it probably relates to the world of constant advertising we indwell, in which it’s easy for a healthy material anticipation to edge into obsession or relative discontent.

It’s the world’s paradigm, that we should always be looking for more, looking for what’s next, to be happier. But the gospel shifts that paradigm completely. It says both that we can be completely content in our current circumstances, and that we ultimately anticipate and work towards eternity, which could come at any point. Nowhere does it say, life will be so much better when you design the perfect house. In fact, from an external perspective, Jesus didn’t “arrive” much of anywhere: he was never married, never had kids. Never got a degree. Probably didn’t own a house or earn much of a salary.

Part of this is reminding myself that my life should reflect what is most important now, and not put off working on things until I arrive at this or that landmark—for example, waiting to work on marriage until we have more time. Part of it is enjoying where I am now, not looking to the grass being always greener in the next stage of life or parenting. I think God created us to anticipate—and we’ll probably always anticipate and hunger to some degree until we get to heaven—but this is a good reminder to me to not base too much on the future.