The goal is to ...

The goal is to ... act on what is possible, to trust that time will unfold and life will ripen and that where you are now is not where you'll be forever.
-- Martha Sheehy

Where you are now is not where you will be forever… unless there is where you want to stay.

You CAN stay stuck/trapped/fixed/frozen in the place you are. It's comfortable and you know how to move around the 4 corners of that place. Everything in the space where you are is familiar/predictable and only requires that you keep showing up there for it to exist. Nothing in that place you're standing in looks any different today than it did yesterday, and you know without a doubt, tomorrow will look the same. The place you're in has everything you need for you to keep feeling/doing as you do and anything more would be too much for you to handle/receive/believe in. That's all you want. That's all you know. So, stay there.

But, you gotta know – you'll always be there by yourself. No one and nothing can get into the place/exist where you're stuck. And, in the place you're stuck, there's no fruit/ harvest/profit/growth/increase/change/help/steps forward/contentment/choice because there's no life. And where there's no life, there's no breath. And where's there's no breath/air, there's death. To stay stuck there means that you die in 4 monotonous corners, gulping down the staleness of gloom/sameness, wrapping yourself tightly in isolation and seclusion, denying yourself the pleasures/privileges of life given to you faithfully just because. Certainly, you've got to want to live.

Jesus came so that you could enjoy life in overflowing abundance (John 10:10), so that you could have the desires of your heart (Psalm 21:2), and so that you could bless others with the life Elohim graciously/mercifully/ selflessly gave you (Mark 12:31). To do otherwise spits in the face of the One who gave you life in the first place.

But, if you believe that you were created for more than those 4 walls of lifelessness; trust fully that all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23); and want more than what's happening right here, right now, then you shall have it (Matthew 9:29). Because, again, where you are now is not where you will be forever.The Quester in Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is "nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil (2:24). Truly that is a TALL/seemingly impossible, foolish, and disingenuous order for you who is accustomed to ducking out of life's enjoyment. But it's an order nonetheless. And because it's an order, you must mindfully step away from your glumness and watch with reverence how life unfolds into something beautiful and whole.

How in the hey does anyone find "enjoyment in his toil?" you ask. Well, first you must believe your toil is only for a season – not here to stay/a period of time/preparation period/maturation phase – in order that you may be spiced/treated/given zest to, after which time you will be cured/ready for use/tempered/suitable, fit, and appropriate/savored. You must believe that when this, too, shall pass you will be like "…pure gold put through the fires… proved pure" (1 Peter 1:6).

Remembering that this is just a season and that Jehovah Shalom (God of peace) did not create you to suffer helps you to live with gratitude for what each moment brings. Remembering that things won't always be this way helps you to ask God to give you the strength/grace to endure it and learn whatever it is you should while you're going through it. You get to watch God purify your faith/heart/intentions/life so that you can really be like Jesus.

And while you're watching/waiting for the unfolding of the revelations/evolutions in your season, you are constantly/consistently contributing to God's Kingdom by being kind to yourself in health, thought, and speech; serving/connecting with others; relying of the presence of Jehovah Shammah (God is present) to guide/confirm/help/console/empower you; and refusing to focus solely on what had you stuck to begin with. And, if what has had you stuck requires seeking professional help, for your sake and the Kingdom of God, get that help.

In your season, Elohim will "fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." (Job 8:21). And, although, you're human and you'll have moments where it just aches/confuses/constricts too badly for you to laugh/smile/focus on the lesson/the good/God, it's okay because you have people around you who love you enough to travail/cry/be angry/feel it with you, people God put there specifically for that purpose. And because God put them in your life/equipped them for this reason, to not use them/reach for them again spits in the face of the One who gave you life in the first place.

Because this season is not forever/because life is too short to not live it well and whole/because your purpose is wasted in despair, you must act on what is possible (abundant life) and know things will get better and a new day will dawn because that's what God promised. The season may be long/hard, but you won't miss out the good things/miracles/blessings God gave you in/for the meantime.