Life is busy. Some days it seems we’re just barely staying above water, and others, not even that. Maybe the to-do list ends the day longer than it started or, worse, maybe I didn’t even get to look at it. Surely you know the feeling. It’s a feeling that can get overwhelming, at times.

Some time ago, I realized I was giving my wife exactly the wrong advice in such situations. Frequently, she’d express how overwhelmed she felt, and I’d try to encourage her by saying that this time (when several of our kids are still younger, she’s home-schooling, and things are the way they are) is just a very busy time and it will get better. That phrase became my promise: “Life will get better”. “It’s just a season”, I said. I promised that soon there would be more time, more peace, more rest, and less stress. These were recurring promises, but they were wrong. It’s still tempting to think that way, but it’s not a Biblical view, I don’t believe.

One day, thinking about Genesis 3, I realized that God promises almost exactly the opposite of what I was promising my wife. Particularly, after Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and sin entered the world, part of the punishment God pronounced was this (Gen. 3:17-19, NASB):

Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

What did God promise Adam? It suddenly struck me, he’s basically saying, “You’ll work very hard every day of your whole life, until you die.” There it is. “Till you return to the ground,” it says. You’ll have great toil every day until you die. There go my elegant-sounding promises. I was denying Genesis 3 and trying to believe we live in a world that does not still suffer the consequences of sin. My “encouragement” to my wife was completely hollow and false. Life may not get better. It may involve just as much toil, just as many feelings of being overwhelmed, up until the day we die.

However, God provides far better hope I can offer. Instead of offering promises that our brief life here on this earth will get better, God offers something far better. Yes, Adam and Eve fell and sin entered the world, and as a result, life here may not get better and may even get worse. But if we are Christians, this world is not our real home. We’re just here as foreigners and strangers, just passing through for a brief time. We’re headed towards our real home, which Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for us – where we will meet God in the new heavens and the new earth, with the effects of the curse and the fall un-done, and get to enjoy God forever. There, we can enjoy the rest and peace we so long for – but that’s not promised to us in this life.

Paul captures some of this in 2 Timothy 4:6-9 (NASB):

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Paul pictures Christian life as a race, here and in many other passages in the New Testament. At the end of the race, as we cross the finish line, we receive our reward, our prize. Paul seeks to run this race well, and urges God’s people to do the same. Now, I’ve run quite a few races, and they hurt. They’re difficult, and I’m delighted to finish – especially if I finish well. During a race, I’m mainly concerned with finishing, not with enjoying the race. The enjoyment comes from finishing well. And that’s the picture here. That’s the picture I was failing to paint for my wife and for myself – we’re not here waiting for “life to get better” but rather we’re here to persevere and finish the race.

That doesn’t mean there is no joy or pleasure to be found in the present. Far from it. However, that enjoyment isn’t going to be found by optimizing our present life.

Paul again touches on some of these themes in Philippians. In 1:21-24, he writes:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

Here, he is torn between two desires. On one hand, he wants to be done with the race and be with Christ. On the other, he wants to remain and labor to help God’s people. If he finishes the race, then he will have rest – the rest we all seek. But he also has a great desire to help the people and bring glory to God. This is a great challenge to me. What are my desires? I hope God will help me more and more have these same desires.

We can find joy in the present, though, as Paul also tells us in Philippians (4:10-13):

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Here, Paul is telling us that he’s learned how to rejoice in all circumstances and be content. Indeed, he has learned the secret of being content – it’s that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. This means that, with Christ’s help, he can even rejoice while suffering great hardship. So he is able to write from prison and command us (4:4), “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

Thus, I must not look to circumstances for contentment. The results of the fall mean life may not get better. It may be filled with great difficulty. It will even resemble a race. But God has his purposes for me, and, with his strength, I can press on and accomplish the work He’s given me to do. At the finish line, I’ll find rest and peace. And, along the way, I can find contentment in Him.