Why Do You Miss What You are Missing?
“What is it that you miss most right now?” This is a question I have asked more than a few people since all this started, and what I have noticed is that in many instances, the answer has changed the deeper we have gone into this ‘new normal.’ I think it is completely understandable for our answers to change and evolve not only because we are adapting to a ‘new normal’ but also because we are becoming more aware of those things in life to which we gave not a second thought that through their absence make our life different.
“What is it that you miss most right now?” This question also invites us to dive into an examination of what is most important in our lives, and the inconvenient thing about this exercise is that it might, just might, lead us to a humbling reality that we find more of our security in temporal things that at some point, near or far, will disappear.
In more than a couple of places in scripture we discover some wisdom that can help guide us through questions like these especially at times like ours.
Hear these words from First John two, verses fifteen through seventeen, as recorded in the New Living Translation:
Don’t love the world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them.
Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world and its cravings are passing away, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
Briefly, I want to highlight just a few things that come to mind
The question of what we are missing most helps us address and maybe deal with an uncomfortable reality as we hear John’s admonition to not love the world or things of this world. Along with this is the sucker-punch of understanding that if we love the world it is a reflection of our lack of love for God - no matter what might be our best intentions or stated desires.
I doubt seriously there is anyone who would say they are arrogant, and yet when asking about that which we miss most, do our answers reflect on what we want or what God desires? After all, possessions are not just material things but all those things in life in which we assert control for our own ends.
As we conclude today’s installment, allow me to make one last observation:
Rather than looking at passages like the one above from first John as an indictment of the state of our souls, let us instead look at it as the impetus to recalibrate our lives so that our main nourishment comes from the assurance of a beloved child of God who has accepted love of God through the grace of Christ. Rather than looking at times like ours as a time of ‘missing’ things, let us instead take advantage of this time to take stock of what we really treasure and devalue those things that are not of God, that we allow to distract us from God’s will for our lives and all those around us.