Chasing a Mirage

 “See what great love[a] the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are!”

-1 John 3:1

I don’t have the best pictures but I think about this often. My junior year of high school I tore my hip flexor running down the home stretch of the state cross country meet.  I held on for dear life grabbing my hip as I ran the last quarter of a mile holding off opponents as I hobbled into the medal contention.

The winner that year was one Drew Sikkema (Prince of Peace). I ran into him a couple weeks later at Nike Nationals and asked him what it was like winning state and being a champion and he said “The feeling wears off within a day or two.” and I remember thinking there’s no flipping way you literally are history! I made up my mind it was the only adventure worthy of my time and energy and I was on a quest for immortality after that climbing my own Everest. God allowed me the next year to rise to the top of Everest. I found a familiar feeling - one that wanes in a day or two just as Drew had told me.

I thought this couldn’t be right, so as I scanned the horizon that spring I decided the feeling would be different if I climbed it again and again there was nothing at the top. I told myself it was because it was only high school and immortality really rests on success in college but that too was a lie I told myself as college lay just as empty. Whatever high I felt in the accomplishments was always met immediately with we have to do better/more or it was all for nothing and it robbed me of most joy in those years.

It wasn’t until I met Jesus that I understood it all - truthfully the biggest blessing for me always lies in knowing the mirage in the desert won’t fulfill me. If you want to chase greatness by all means but know all feelings fade in time and it will never fulfill you. We invest much of our life in seeking purpose and fulfillment but we will always be worth more than the money we make, the grades we get, the relationships we have, the points we score, the times we run and the possessions we accumulate.

We are worthwhile because we are Children of God. Period. In that sentence lies all the richness the world has to offer - it is a feeling that doesn’t wane in time, it is a love that leads you through every mountain and valley and it is a good love. It is a love that frees us from the pursuit of more and says “I am enough” and allows us to live in abundance and enjoy life knowing whether we win or lose we are the same and we are loved.

Ecclesiastes 1:8

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Ecclesiastes 3:13