I think we all suffer from it, some more acutely than others.   The “I will be happy when…” disposition. It is a common ladder to be on. I would argue, it is our default.

Business coach Robert Holden in his book Authentic Success warns of what he calls…“Destination Addiction—a preoccupation with the idea that happiness is in the next place, the next job, or with the next partner. Until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it will never be where you are.” 

Holden suggests that our eyes are looking in the wrong place.

Jerry Bridges, in his book, Respectable Sins, shows us that our hearts are in the wrong place.   “Discontentment is sin” says Bridges. A tolerable sin, an acceptable sin, yes, even a respectable sin, but a sin nonetheless.

“But my ambitions are good!” one might argue. And indeed they may well be.    But as Dave Harvey wisely points out in his book Rescuing Ambition, “If ambition defines me, it will never fulfill me.”

Harvey expounds:  ‘Contentment means being satisfied and at peace with God’s will in all situations. It’s a state of the soul where your desires conform to wherever you find yourself.’

He continues:   “In Philippians we discover something that marks the life of every believer. On the one hand, we’re called to ‘strain forward to what lies ahead’ and ‘press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (3:13-14). But we’re also given Paul’s example of learning ‘in whatever situation I am to be content’ (4:11). Is Paul confused? He seems to be saying, ‘Hunger for more’ in one chapter, and ‘Be happy with where you are’ in the next.    Exactly.  Since Paul’s ambitions were not selfish, he could live with them unfulfilled. Sure, he had dreams and desires—but they were God-focused, not Paul-focused. If they remained unsatisfied, that was God’s business.” 

God focused ambition. That is what we are to be about.    So stop, take a look.  What ladder are you on?   If on the ladder that is full of self, take your observation as a grace of God to show you that there is a better one.

Rod
S.D.G. – 20