I'm not there....yet

​Yesterday, I discovered the power in a small and relatively overlooked word: yet.

I was running.

I was thinking about running. I was thinking about my life. I was thinking about where I wanted to be. And I found myself thinking, I'm not there, yet.

Do you know how big the difference is when you add the simple word 'yet' to the sentence 'I'm not there'?

The difference is as giant as hope.

YET has a little bully in it. It's the difference between 'I don't know if I'll ever get there' and 'I have somewhere to go, so get out of my way'.

There is a passage in the bible. Paul is talking about his faith journey, and he says these words in Philippians:

"I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back."

I'll translate for Paul. He's saying, I'm not perfect and I'm sure not where I want to be. But I know where I'm going, so get out of my way.

I think too often we get discouraged when we're not where we want to be.

We're not where we want to be writing our book.

We're not where we want to be in a relationship.

We're not where we want to be with our running goals.

We're not physically living where we want to live.

All of those things can be discouraging. Discouraging, unless we add YET to the end of those things.

I've lived a lot of life that has simply stopped at 'I'm not there'. But more and more, I find myself adding the word YET to the end of life.

YET has a way of emphatically implying, I'm not dead yet. I'm still going. I'm not there, but you'd better believe I'm going to get there.

I am flawed, for sure.

And I am not where I want to be.

YET.