Not Yet!

Have you ever looked at someone else’s life and found yourself wishing your life looked more like theirs?  I know I have.  It’s so easy to look at things like other people’s marriage and wish your husband was more like him.  It’s common to observe someone’s children and wish your kids were more behaved like theirs.  The list could go on to include houses, cars, families, in laws, jobs, fashion and on and on.

We each have deep brokenness in our lives.  To be honest, the closer I get to what I thought I wanted out of this life, the further away I often feel.  The longer I walk as a believer in Christ, it seems that the more brokenness and hurt I incur.  Why is that?  Why do I receive these awesome blessings from God and continue to live in want for the not yet?  Why does my heart continue to long for deep things that others seems to have but God has not allowed in my own life?

Just recently I was talking to a friend that I love deeply but who I sometimes compare my life to.  On the outside, it seems like she is the quintessential Christian lady.  Kids, home, husband, life……..it all seems to look so desirable.  But on the inside, I know she still struggles.  She has her own journey, her own aches and pains just like I do.  And I found myself having this lightbulb sort of moment.

I could have all things I’ve wanted all these years and still be right where I am.  God could grant me all the big things in life but I could still be wading through deep waters.  It was like I realized in that moment that I need to stay focused on gratitude while I’m waiting.  I WILL BE WAITING FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE………for something.  It’s just the way God wired our hearts.  He created us to be walking through this life, partially empty so that we will run to him to complete the God shaped hole in our heart.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet in no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecc.3:11

God’s plan does not make sense to us on most occasions.  But he is making all things “beautiful” in his time.  I will admit that I have begged and pleaded for God to make it beautiful in my time but that is not what this promise is about.  It’s about His Time and not ours.  God has also set eternity in our hearts so that we will long for it always.  This means that we will always live in a state of “not yet”.  I don’t know about you but I don’t like hearing those words.  It’s like a Mom telling their kid, “you can have a cookie, but not yet?”.  It just doesn’t seem fair sometime but that’s because that Mom knows what’s best for her child just like God knows what’s best for us.

So what about you?  Is God saying, “not yet” to you?  Are you living with longing, heartache or confusion on exactly what God wants from you?  Well, one thing is for sure.  We will spend the rest of our lives waiting on something, we can count on that.  The question is….what are we doing while we are waiting?  Are we complaining?  Are we whining to others and to the Lord?  Or are we worshipping while we are waiting.  I, for one, want to be loving those God has in front of me.  I want to be grateful for all the blessing he does provide and keep myself from comparing my life to others.  Someone once said, “Comparison always breeds discontent”.  You are the only you God has made or will ever make again.  Live the life in front of you for the Lord and do it with all your heart and soul and strength.  (Dt.6:5)