Many of us are typically focused on what the next thing is. We get through one thing, already looking for what is coming up.

The next goal. The next season. The next problem to solve. The next version of the business. The next responsibility that needs my attention.

I have always believed there was value in working hard and moving forward, and I still do. But the older I get, the more I wonder if I have misunderstood what progress really is.

For years, I thought the difficult seasons of my life were preparing me for where God was taking me. Maybe they were. But I am beginning to wonder if becoming the person those seasons were creating was where He was taking me all along.

That is a different way of looking at life.

We tend to see the present as a bridge between where we have been and where we are trying to go. We tell ourselves that once we get through this season, accomplish this goal, solve this problem, or reach this destination, then we will have arrived somewhere meaningful.

But what if God doesn’t see this moment simply as a step toward something more important?

What if this moment and how we handle it is what’s most important?

There have been seasons in business when I believed growth was the goal. More clients. More team members. More opportunity. More responsibility. I thought every challenge was simply something I needed to overcome so I could keep moving forward.

Looking back, though, some of the most important things those seasons gave me had very little to do with the business itself.

I learned that leadership is not always about having the answer. I learned that being right and doing what is right are not always the same thing. I learned that people sometimes need patience more than they need correction. I learned that pushing harder does not fix everything. And I learned, usually the hard way, that I am not nearly as much in control as I would sometimes like to believe.

Those were not interruptions to the journey. They were the journey.

We can become so focused on what we hope our hard work will eventually produce that we miss what God may be producing in us right now. This year has shown me exactly that, and humbled me.

Maybe the goal is not always reaching the next destination. Maybe the goal is becoming more patient in this one. More humble. More compassionate. More courageous. More willing to trust God when we cannot see what comes next.

There is nothing wrong with setting goals. There is nothing wrong with planning for tomorrow. Scripture does not tell us to become passive or irresponsible. But it does warn us against living as though tomorrow belongs to us.

James 4:13-14 reads, “Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we’ll go to another city and spend some time and go into business and make heaps of profit!’ But you don’t have a clue what tomorrow may bring.”

James is not criticizing ambition. He is reminding us that our plans are always held inside something larger than ourselves. This has never been more true than the season of life that I’m in now.

It is hard for people like me. I like plans. I like knowing what comes next. I like being able to look at a problem, find a solution, and keep moving.

But some of the most meaningful seasons of my life have not allowed me to do that. They have forced me to sit in uncertainty. To wait. To listen. To admit that I do not know what the next chapter is supposed to look like.

Maybe there is grace in that. Maybe we spend too much time asking God, “Where are You taking me?” when a better question might sometimes be, “What are You asking of me here?”

We don’t have to have everything figured out. We don’t have to know where every decision will lead. We don’t have to understand what God intends to do with every season.

We simply have to be faithful with the part of life that has actually been given to us today.

I think that may be one of the hardest lessons for an ambitious person to learn. The goal is not to become the person we imagine ourselves being someday.

The goal is to become the most faithful version of ourselves today. To love the people in front of us. To do the right thing when we know what the right thing is. To work hard without believing our work controls the outcome. To remain open to the possibility that God may be doing something completely different from what we had planned.

Yesterday is already gone, and tomorrow has not yet arrived. Today is the only time where we can respond to what God is asking of us.

So make the plan. Set the goal. Work hard. Dream about what might be possible.

Just don’t become so focused on where you think God is taking you that you miss what He is doing in you along the way.

The step you are standing on may not simply be leading you toward the destination.

It may be part of the destination itself.

Practice to Cultivate

Take out a piece of paper and write down the one thing you are most anxious to get through, accomplish, fix, or figure out right now.

Maybe it is a problem at work. A financial goal. A difficult season in your marriage. Something involving your children. A decision you need to make. A health concern. A season of grief. Or simply a part of life you wish would hurry up and pass.

Then ask yourself this.

“What have I convinced myself will finally be better once this is over?”

Be honest.

Now ask a harder question.

“What if God is asking me to become that person before this season ends?”

That question changes things. Now choose one thing that future version of you would do differently, and practice it today.

‘Well Rooted’ is written by Jeremy Elliott. Elliott owns a lawncare business and lives in the Great Bend area.