The AHa! Blog

We live in a time and place that loves part of the story. We live for the exciting moments. We crave the juicy part. We don’t care for the day to day. We want happy endings. 

The problem with this is how incomplete it is.

Well duh, Alan, we know that…

But what, I ask, is it teaching us? There are lots of examples of partial stories. Here are a few:

• When does Jack Bauer go to the bathroom in the real time program 24?
• Did they really live happily ever after (addressed by Shrek 2…and 3…and apparently 4)?
• How much does New York cost to rebuild after Godzilla attacks?

What made me think of this, or even care about it? Driving to Miami. While we were able to push hard to get to our destination and deliver the BUV, we still had over half the story left. How many times does a protagonist reach his goal and then ride off into the sunset? The reality for us wasn’t as romantic. Conflict from being cooped up in a truck for days on end, fatigue from nearly 3000 miles driven, and a general stench from the human body all made the rest of the story a lot less amazing. Or did it?

I think God asks us to be content in the drudgery. He expects it to happen. He knew that when we took the BUV down, we’d have to come back. He knew that for Jesus to have 3 years of ministry, He’d have to prepare for 30 years beforehand.

This doesn’t mean to “just push through.” I don’t think we’re asked to just endure and suck it up. God wants to teach us and love us in the regular. It is in that quiet that we can focus, slow down, and recalibrate.

I also think God wants us to crave a happy ending. It’s in the Bible, right? Ultimately God wins, and there is a happily ever after in the new Heaven and the new Earth.

Until then, we are gonna have to deal with the day to day: From trips to the bathroom, to conflict on a honeymoon. From days you won’t remember, to people that just aren’t interesting to you.

The excitement and joy in life is a hint at eternity with God. All that regular stuff is interlaced with great excitement. It includes roadtrips and romances. Friends you won’t forget and times that are sometimes more vivid than the present. We aren’t promised these moments. When we get them though, it is a great joy for us. Hold on to them. Remember them. Recall the God that gave them to you.

For our trip to and from Miami, by having the perspective of the excitement as a gift, rather than the norm, I have the ability to be far more content with what happened. And, with a learner’s heart, I can pay attention to the drudgery and the conflict and see how God wants to teach me through it.