Do you sometimes feel like you live in the land of “almost”? As if things are “almost about to change” or “almost getting better”. In our daily lives, the tyranny of the urgent gains preeminence above those things that you’ve promised yourself would change. They become faded dreams and you look in the mirror and see a dim version of what you hope you would have become by now.
Many people in the Bible knew “almost”. Jacob knew it. From the moment of his birth, he was grasping out, literally, to get something. Jacob so desired God to bless him. He spent years under the greedy eye of his uncle, who tricked him into marrying his daughter Leah instead of his beloved Rachel. How many of us would wait for a promise for 14 years, when sometimes it’s hard to even wait a week?
For Jacob, it seemed as if his blessing was always just within reach, but not quite there. Despite the fact that he was wealthy, had 12 boys and a girl and TWO wives, he was not satisfied. There was something lacking in his life but no amount of his own effort could bring the change he so desired. He came to a place where he actually wrestled with God and said “I won’t let go until You bless me!” (Genesis 32:22–29). It was there that he finally gave in and said who he really was - a deceiver, a swindler. It came out of his own mouth why he was always striving, always desiring more. But God knew his heart and loved him more than he knew and said “No, your name is changed. It is now ‘Israel’ – meaning ‘Prince with God’ because you have desired Me & I’m going to change you to make you more like Me.”
When you live in this place of “almost”, there are two major feelings that come: depression or anger. Depression that you’re not able to achieve the desired result and anger that things aren’t changing fast enough. People can give you metaphors of seeds and how it takes time for them to grow, but when you’re in the thick of life, you don’t want to wait. But you must! You must because in the waiting is where you grow! In the waiting is where character is formed – like it or not. Otherwise when you get to the desired result, you will lack depth to actually BE the person you wanted to be.
There’s your part and there’s God’s part. For example, if you say “I want to lose weight”, but do nothing but lie around all day, you won’t. Say to God, “Help me to lose weight. Help me to have a desire for You more than I do for food. Help me to enjoy exercise. Help my body to reject ________ (insert the food you’re addicted to here)”. Then your part is to get up, eat right and move!
The second piece besides doing your part, is to learn to rest in the waiting. How many of us are missing life because we are thinking about tomorrow? Maybe it’s not even worry about tomorrow, but looking forward to something. Life is just passing us by – our kids are growing up, our friendships are changing – but we’re not connected because we think “If I only could have that, then everything would be perfect”. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, continue to let God know what you want and the peace that passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus".
God calls us to do this:
1. Have no anxiety or care
2. Tell God your need
3. Be thankful.
There is a striving to be better, which is always good. But when it becomes straining to achieve, that’s where we miss the mark. In all things, Jesus says to us “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27). When you live in this place of peace, despite circumstances and storms, contentment will come and His Presence is always within reach.
