Is This It? Is This All There Is to the Christian Life?
By Laura Carpenter
“Is this it?” I still remember asking this question of my Bible study leader and mentor one day during my college years. I was having daily time with the Lord: reading His word and praying. I attended church regularly and was involved in Bible study. I wasn’t hiding any habitual sins. My relationship with the Lord was genuine, even close and warm. But in a way I couldn’t quite put into words, I felt as if I had arrived where God wanted me … and the thought of continuing on for another … 10? … 20? … 50? years the same way in my relationship with the Lord seemed a little lackluster.
It is a question that unites humanity … deep down, we have a longing for something more. For
the nonbeliever, it is the ache within them for the “much more” offered in a relationship with Jesus Christ. But even as believers, at one point or another in our lives, most of us will ask the same “Is this it?” question. I think this is the question of the 20-something done with college and on to the routine of work: “Is this it?” It is the young married couple after the glow of the honeymoon wears off, that looks around without the built-in community of high school or college and asks, “Is this it?” It’s the “crisis” of the one at midlife who, deep down, thought that all the hard work would’ve led to something a bit more monumental and asks, “Is this it?” Do you find yourself at a place in your current day-to-day that is causing you to ache with that same question?
It is a question that unites humanity … deep down, we have a longing for something more.
When I asked that question decades ago, the answer that I needed to hear was “No! … and yes!” And on a pretty regular basis, you and I need to be reminded of the truths of those answers.
In our hearts, we are all longing for the profound: graduation, college, the big job, marriage, traveling, starting a family, etc. The truth is, there are very few of those huge “milestone” moments in life. And yet we are often too distracted to see that the day-to-day is made up of a hundred profound moments.
Our God has called you, His child, to know Him (Jer. 9:24, 2 Peter 3:18, John 17:3). And He is infinite! In His word and by the experiencing of Him through all the circumstances of your days, there is always more of Him to know. Each and every day ahead of you will hold new opportunities to trust Him and new ways to see His goodness on display!
So, “Is this it?” No! There is a whole day ahead of you, filled with profound moments in which to come to know Him in greater ways and to be empowered by His Spirit to walk in humble and trusting obedience. And for as many days as He gives you, there will be that many more moments waiting for you.
But for that same reason, the answer is “Yes, this IS it!” Don’t miss a single monumental moment that awaits you in the day and week and year ahead.
Your ultimate purpose in this life is not performing your job or mothering or Bible reading. Your purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him every day, now and forever. What more glorious thing could you be called to today and every day ahead of you? Whether you are in the midst of heartache, achievement, or another day of the same routine, your infinitely good and incomprehensibly vast Father and Lord has so much planned for you and through you as you walk with Him through every tiny triumph and monumental moment that awaits!
“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17
“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
Laura Carpenter is a busy wife and mother of four sons (ages 11-19) who resides in Nashua, NH, where her primary role is wife and mom. She volunteers in women’s ministry, youth ministry, and children’s ministry with her church family at Trinity Baptist. Her “paid” work is in an emergency department as a physician assistant. She is happiest with coffee and her Bible or with warm sunshine on a long run.