Your Best Life Now, or No?
Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually (1 Chronicles 16:11).
Many embrace the deceptive mantra that you should “live your best life now.” In fact, that was the theme of a best-selling book written by a pastor who mapped out seven steps to reach your full potential here on earth. Many Christians soaked in its recipe. The problem with this mentality is that it can be antithetical to the teachings of Scripture. Ultimately, living our best life in Christ is based on principles that prepare us for eternal life, not this life. Therefore, our motivation should always be heavenward, not earthly bound.
“Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).
Only the works we do for the eternal last forever—our best life is built upon the infinite, not the finite. Another false notion in the effort to achieve your best life now has many people believing that God will not allow anything bad to happen to them, thinking Christianity is a walk-through flowery beds of ease. Just pick any of the twelve apostles, and you will see that being a follower of Christ comes with a cost. A high cost. It is a call to hardship, and it is only through knowledge of the Word that we can stand strong in the Lord’s strength as we navigate a fallen world.
Clinging to a heavenly mindset in times of trouble is not easy; it can be downright exhausting. That is why we need constant reminders in Scripture: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). Whose might? His! The key is to set our minds in an unwavering stance through daily renewal, most effective through spiritual preparedness when the waters are calm. It is a habit of aligning our thoughts upward.
I often think of King David and the many crises he faced. Some he caused, others fell upon him, but through all of them he exemplified his faith in God. He lived a good portion of his life being pursued by his enemies. We know he wondered about God’s seeming absence. In Psalm 13:1, he writes, “How long, oh Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” The remedy is found in Psalm 16:8, where David says, “I have set the Lord always before me … I shall not be moved.” Did that mean David was waiting for his best life to come to fruition? No! It meant that whatever came at him, he would not budge from the sovereignty of God in his life.
Biblical testimonies, as well as our own, should strengthen us to see the eternal plan at work in our earthly setting. Do you doubt God’s presence in your life during difficult seasons? The truth about life on earth is that there will always be challenges and storms to weather as you journey towards the afterlife. We are a fickle people who like to talk about heaven but then live like it doesn’t exist. That is why Jesus reminds us in John 16:33, “In this world, you will have trials and tribulations, but fear not, I have overcome the world.” There isn’t one place in the spiritual or temporal sphere where we see any soul revival that didn’t come through the blood, sweat, and tears of those whose sufferings were their birth pangs.
It is Jesus’ desire to free us from the material physical world we are so caught up in. He desires us to have an eternal perspective. A man once asked George Mueller the best way to have strong faith. “The only way,” replied the patriarch of faith, “to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.”
And that is how we live our best life now.
