I have the privilege of being in Chorale—and I absolutely love it! But the rehearsals are challenging. It takes staying in a constant state of engagement and thinking, which means my brain and body must be working the whole time.
About two weeks ago, we were rehearsing a song that just wasn’t good enough. After working hard on it, we made progress and Dr. Cook seemed pleased with us.
We sat down in our chairs and Dr. Cook asked the choir collectively if we were satisfied with how we just performed. Considering our improvement, I smiled and nodded my head yes.
Dr. Cook looked at us and said something that strongly resonated with me.
“That’s what’s the matter with you all. You’re too easily satisfied. You must be optimistic but never satisfied.”
He was right. And I felt convicted in choir practice.
It’s extremely easy to sit back and be happy with where we are in life.
We’re satisfied with how hard we work. We’re satisfied with our earthly home. We’re satisfied with our comforts, and we’re satisfied with the current state of our relationship with God.
God didn’t create us to be stagnant beings. We’re meant to work hard and to improve. God works in our lives so that we won’t stay the same.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,” Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV).
It doesn’t matter if our lives are pleasant or hard, there is more to come. God has wonderful things in store for His children.
So why do we get so easily content with this world? Why don’t we push ourselves, through the Holy Spirit’s power, to accomplish everything we can for God while here on earth?
There are probably lots of different reasons, but I think maybe it’s because we’re too easily satisfied.
We get comfortable with how things are. We continue to pat ourselves on the back for accomplishments and victories won years ago. We celebrate our one-mile lap in the marathon of life.
Yes, we should be very optimistic. God blesses us greatly, and He wants us to enjoy His gifts.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” James 1:17 (KJV).
But let’s not be satisfied with where we are. There are still those who are hurting around us who need to hear about Jesus. There are still Christian brothers and sisters who feel forgotten who need a friend. And no matter how old we get and how long we’ve known Jesus personally, we can still go deeper.
We serve a big God who wants to move mountains for us. He tells us to ask him and believe. But sometimes we’re satisfied to simply take a detour around the mountain, and we miss experiencing miracles because we’re so satisfied with normal.
As this crazy semester comes to a close, I’m optimistic—I’ve made progress. I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve learned from them. I’ve made it (almost!) to my senior year of college. I’ve deepened relationships, and I’ve followed Jesus through another year.
But I’m not satisfied. I want to continue to do better, to work harder and to keep learning and growing. I want to run the race of life to the best of my ability.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1 (KJV).
Even when God has me in a place where I feel stuck, there is still someone that I can love, and I can still grow to experience Jesus deeper every day.
So, will you join me? Let’s ask God for the big things. Let’s run this really hard race well. Let’s continue to improve and learn and love. Let’s be optimistic but never satisfied.
