That’s a saying we all know and have heard time and time again. But how often do we apply it? How much more likely are we to anticipate the endings rather than beginnings? We can’t wait to graduate, until the end of the work day, until the weekend, until the end of the year, and definitely can’t wait until the end of this pandemic when we don’t have to wear masks anymore. The anticipation is understandable, especially of the latter, but what I have found is that the urge to skip to the ending, not only robs the entirety of the experience and genuinely enjoying it, but also makes the journey feel intrinsically longer and more tedious. The consequence of being tunnel-visioned, in that we are so focused on one thing – the end, is that we, very rarely, see anything else and life itself quite literally passes us by.
I am now in my senior year of college and have been waiting for this moment since I was a freshman. It sounds normal, like that is a natural reaction, except it isn’t. I have been waiting for the end of my journey since it started, and while I cannot conceive of what I have missed because of this tunnel vision, I am thankful that I stopped to smell the coffee, so to speak. It is when I began to do that, to concentrate less on the end and graduating, that I began to feel more free, to breathe a little and bask in where I am in this present moment of my life and academic career, and honestly, it is a pretty great place to be. It is gratifying to embrace where I stand in my life without placing pressure on myself to get to the next step. We steal our own joy when we don’t allow ourselves to relish in the blessings of today and what God has brought us to and through. The goal, the ending, is always going to be there without us feeling the need to rush toward it.
Another consequence, and a far more detrimental one too, is missing out on the plans God has for you, the opportunities He has set in place for you, and His revealing to you what is next. We just want to make it to the end. The irony is that we want to get to the end and will even rush if we have to, finding whatever loophole or shortcut we can to get the end while God is trying to lead us elsewhere. We want what we want so badly that we miss an opening or an opportunity failing to realize what we want is not always what God wants for us. Another problem with only looking to the end is that it prevents us from conceiving of any other possibility, and once we have done that, assumed we know what the ending looks like, and bank on it, we place limits on God and what is possible and we don’t want to ever do that – leave God out of anything, especially our plans and our future.
Tunnel-visioning to the point that you can see only the end and nothing else is how we miss the opportunities for the experience to teach us something and to grow. It is impossible to learn from an experience you refuse to fully immerse yourself in, one that you refuse to embrace, because you just want to get to the end. As much as we may resent where we are in our respective journeys and would like very much to move on to what is next, that simply isn’t the way life works. More importantly, wherever we are at this moment is where God wants us to be and with good reason. So, not only is it detrimental to forsake where you are in life because you are missing opportunities and the chance to grow, but you are missing an opportunity handcrafted by God for you to be challenged, to grow, and to enjoy.
If we cannot find joy in where we are, then getting to the end will do nothing for us and feel as nothing. But the moment we begin to appreciate the journey, to appreciate exactly where we are with the distinct knowledge that we have come farther than we once hoped, then come the surprises and the tests – all God reveals to us as we embrace our present. The tests are not always obvious or grueling, but they grow us, they sharpen us, and they prepare us for what is next. In being obedient to where God has us right now, God is able to reveal things to us, and when we take heart and have our comfort in where He has us today. He, then, gives us a bridge that leads us to the next thing – our new beginning that we could not see because we only wanted to be finished, but we are never finished. Our work is never done so long as we have breath in our bodies.
As one thing ends, another begins, and if we are obedient, if we stay the course without veering off to the end, where we believe things will be better and easier, we arrive, instead, exactly where God wants us and that sweet spot is endless possibilities, is bountiful blessings, and is a peace that passeth all understanding – peace within ourselves, peace with God trusting Him, and peace, joy, and a sweet relief in knowing that the Lord will make a way somehow.
