Will You Be Content in That?

So today in Literature class I actually learned something.

I know right?

We read a story by Henry James titled The Beast in the Jungle. Basically, it's a story about this guy who spends his entire life obsessing over "the horrible thing" that he thinks is going to happen to him. He befriends a woman who pretty much centers her entire life around being with him to talk about the horrible thing.

She drops so many hints that she's into him, but he never gets it.

Boys.

You should know that you always have to tell them straight out if you dig them...they tend not to get hints.

But anyway, she ends up getting some horrible disease, and she dies. And he is sad that he lost someone to talk about the horrible thing with.

BUT

It takes him hanging out at the cemetery and seeing another man in grief about losing his wife that he finally realizes...

The "horrible thing" that he always felt would happen to him ended up being just this...

Nothing.

Nothing happened to him.

He did not allow himself to fall in love with the woman, his best friend, who was always there for him. He did not enjoy every moment of his life, because he was too focused on something in the future.

It consumed him.

How often do we do this in our faith? And I'm not trying to make this into a floofy faith conversation.

Like, seriously. How often do we spend our whole lives sitting in a puddle, saying, "God I know someday You will turn this puddle into a lake!"

And I'm not trying to say that He won't do just that.

But there is a difference between having faith and dreams (which are great and super awesome! Keep them!), and centering your whole life on something that you might not actually be called to.

God gives us EACH DAY to live. Not just some distant day in the future when you are famous. You won't start living then. YOU ARE LIVING NOW.

If you miss those days, and then end up being 100 years old looking back on your life...what will you have to look back on?

I'll just leave you with this...

**What if God is entrusting you with the mission of loving today, before he can give you something epic in the future?

**What if God is calling you to be the most influential person in the world, but you never receive recognition for it?

We are ALL called to live EVERY DAY like we are living for Him. And chances are, we won't become famous for it.

Will you still be content with that?