Embrace Your AlmostSample

Living In-Between

Regardless of whether you’re achievement oriented or more of a go-with-the-flow type, I’d be willing to bet that the life you have now looks different from the one you thought you’d have.

You may have thought that by now you’d be married with two kids and a dog, that you’d be at a certain level in your career, that you’d have the four-bedroom house, or that you’d be experiencing something else that hasn’t quite panned out (even if, at one point or another, you were so close you could taste it).

Crazy as it sounds, I’ve learned that sometimes it’s only during moments of heartbreak or disappointment that we have the “opportunity” to collect ourselves, consider all that we’re doing, and clarify what we value and what success truly means to us.

I know from experience how frustrating it is to hit brick wall after brick wall, no matter what you do. I know how much it hurts to feel like your best efforts still land you in last place. I understand how hard it is to wait. And I know firsthand the sheer rage that bubbles up when something comes along and messes up all the happily-ever-afters, making your life feel more like a story of happily-ever-almosts.

I have also seen the growth that sprouts in the ruins. That kind of growth is often not fast, flashy, or fun. In fact, it’s usually slow and almost always in secret, hidden from the world. It’s the kind with roots that go deep—the kind that God uses to transform us from the inside out, just as He formed us in a secret, hidden place (Psalm 139).

Of course, you can put your head down, power through, and try to pretend the letdown isn’t happening to you. Or you can choose to step into the invitation to gain perspective and find that you are indeed capable of creating a life you like, even in the tension of the in-between. Because life is more like a garden to tend than a game to win. And you can grow only where you are planted, not where you think you should be.

Lord, I believe You want to transform me—whether the world is watching or not. Help me to see what You are doing in my life right now, so I don’t just wait for life to begin when I get what I’m wanting or waiting for. Amen.