The End Game

When I first arrived in Klaipeda, I noticed a lot of snails. It’s a kind of wet place, and apparently the snails thrive here. Benjamin told me that one day he saw a snail going up the side of a five-story building here on campus. He thought, “Buddy, what’s the end game here?”Of course I laughed. Sometimes, when I see animals scurrying in one direction or another, I wonder where they’re going. Are they heading to a place, or are they just running away from danger? Does the snail know he’s going up? Does he plan to reach the top of the building? Get just high enough to be safe from predators and sunshine? Is he meeting a friend?I don’t believe animals think about the past and the future. Humans do. Our thinking and reflecting make us feel like we have control, but we don’t have that much control. We look back, we evaluate, we make adjustments and hope for the best.I believe that God has a good plan, and I fit into it. And somehow, as I walk with Him, He will form me into the person I ought to be. And that He will use me to glorify Him and bless others. And He’ll use others to bless me. But I don’t see how it all fits. I want everything to be obvious. “I will do x and y, and then the result will inevitably be z.” But life just isn’t that simple. So it turns out that I’m often just doing the next thing and wondering if I’m like a snail laboring up the side of a building.Sometimes I see the janitor washing floors at LCC after hours, and I think, “Doesn’t she ever get upset with people for tracking dirt in?” But the nature of her job is maintenance, not progress.American culture teaches us to expect ourselves to make steady, measurable progress. In our careers, financial situations, relationships, collections, skill sets, etc. But for most of us, sometimes simple maintenance is enough. Maybe, for right now, maintenance is the thing most needful in one or more areas, averting disaster is what is necessary in other areas, repairing relationships in yet another area, or just carrying someone else’s burden for a while.A lot of these things will be secret, not posted or shared with any but close friends. From the outside it may look like you’re not making any progress. But if you’re obeying God and loving others, you ARE making progress.“What’s the end game?” is a legitimate question when a person or group is setting goals. I do it all the time. But when one is considering the trajectory of his entire life, the Christian must answer, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (James 4:15)James offers this advice: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” From this I conclude that the best way to face the future is to do what I know is right, right now. God will have to sort out the future. I think He can handle it.

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