Right Where You Are – Week Two

In her book, Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship, author Ruth Chou Simons invites us to consider the words of an eighteenth-century poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Cease endlessly striving to do what you want to do and learn to love what must be done.”

As I read Ruth’s chapter on learning to love what must be done, I was struck by her words, “We must stop constantly trying to gain the circumstances we’d rather have, the things we’d rather be doing, the success we’d rather be achieving, the challenges that would be easier to traverse, the praise we’d rather receive. We strive so hard to do what we naturally desire and are so unhappy until we get it.”

Today, right where you are is a place to thrive, invest, and bless. But too often, we let our dreams of tomorrow rob us of that joy. We complain, worry, and strive instead of loving, serving, and embracing.

Maybe we need to stop and consider that our attitude right now is the posture we are training ourselves in. In other words, if I am bitter and frustrated today, most likely, I will be bitter and frustrated tomorrow. If I am discontent in this season, I will be discontent in the next.

What if the key to transforming our tomorrow is transforming our today? It is easy to project a picture-perfect future where we (of course) will behave perfectly too, but is that what we are building toward?

In last week’s blog, we looked at the people of Israel. The prophet Jeremiah gave them instructions for their captivity season. Not surprisingly, he did not tell them to whine, complain, give up, waste away, or stop living. Instead, Jeremiah challenged Israel to:

Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiple their and not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. Jeremiah 29:5-7 NASB

God had a purpose for Israel. And that purpose was not confined to a particular place or time. Let’s look back to what to the very first thing God had to say to Abraham about this nation, even before their existence,

I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you will be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. Genesis 12:2-3

Israel’s purpose was simple – to be a blessing to all the nations of the world. And that meant, even in captivity, they were fully empowered to live out their calling. They didn’t need freedom, wealth, or a new opportunity. Instead, they could be a blessing right where they were.

And so can you.

Think for a minute about your purpose. Why is it that God placed you on earth? Is that purpose limited to a specific place or time? I would argue that it is not. Instead, your calling can be lived out today – with the exact resources you have now, with the very people in front of you, with the precise opportunities you have already.

I think it is time that we learn to love what must be done. Yes, we should hope and dream, but in that hoping and dreaming, let’s not forget – thriving today not only brings joy today, it is also shaping the future me.

Consider the words Paul penned to the Philippian church reminding them of their purpose to be a light in a dark world,

Do all things without grumbling and disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. Philippians 2:14-15

Complaining always hinders God’s purpose, while embracing what is in front of me provides contentment, stability, and peace. As we engage who and what is in front of us, we exercise excellence, productivity, love, and grace. And we open doors to be a blessing, right where we are.