Settling Prematurely

In the Book of Numbers, Chapter 32, there is an interesting story of a few tribes who wanted to settle down before they crossed the river into the Promised Land. They decided that the land east of the Jordan River was suitable for their purposes of raising livestock.

This story made me think of how often we settle short of God’s expectations. I imagine that, like any parent, God has high hopes for us.

“For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

God has a plan and we have a role to play. He is the director who has picked out a place for each of us on his stage. Some of us never show up for the production because of stage fright or possibly laziness. We decide that it’s too much trouble and end up settling.

When my son was around 9 years old, he was in a play about early American settlers. The drama teacher made sure that everyone who wanted a role on stage got one. She actually asked the kids for their input on how they would like to contribute to the production. I think she was hoping that most of them would choose a speaking role. Instead, my son asked to be part of the backstage lighting crew. When I asked him why he asked for that role, he said: “I figured it won’t be too much trouble since I just have to turn the light switch on and off.” He didn’t realize that there was more to stage lighting than that! There were about five kids who were part of the lighting crew that year. One was an older kid who knew how to operate the lights. The rest of the little kids just followed him around.

Sometimes this happens to us grownups too. We ask for lesser roles in God’s production. We are afraid of messing up on stage, forgetting our lines, and embarrassing ourselves. Yet, we aren’t really useful backstage either. We end up settling prematurely into superfluous roles of our own design.