Do you ever feel like you are behind in life? You check out the landscape around you - your friends and their accomplishments, your friend's children and where they are in life, your financial situation, the state of your health, how your happiness measures up to other people's perceived happiness which is always on display via social media?
Of course you do. We all do.
In this modern society, impatience is at an all time high. For some reason, we all think we deserve ALL THE THINGS right now. But man. The older I get, the more I realize that life is the long game - not to be cliche, but it truly is about the journey, not the destination.
I worry for folks today who are rushing to get to some imaginary finish line where they think they will be happy. No. Happiness is today. It is the people you love, the work you do, the faith you embrace. It is not an absence of trouble or challenges. It is not the perfect house, fancy car, perfect body.
Faith is the same. I am a follower of Jesus, but the longer I follow Him, the more I realize that faith is also not about a destination - it is about what you learn along the way, and who you are becoming. Many young believers seem to have the idea that faith is an easy fix for what ails them. No, my friends, faith is a relationship. And like most relationships, it gets finer with time, and stronger because of adversity.
The Bible is full of the stories of people who waited years, decades even, to see the promises of God fulfilled. We have trouble waiting for our food in a drive-thru line. But, you know, our present circumstances don't change God. He does not change His ways to accommodate our perceived time table. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He created the long game and did it with us in mind.
Take a deep breath - masterpieces, like you and me, they cannot be rushed, and they are well worth the wait.
