Some time ago I heard of Josh Garrels. I think I was fortunate enough to catch one of his albums being offered free on line. And not just any album, but probably his best — Love & War & the Sea in Between.
It’s a great album. But one of the songs stuck out to me right away. “Farther Along” is an old Southern Gospel song that ponders why things happen as they do — why good people suffer while the wicked prosper. But when I listen to Garrels’ version of it, I feel more of the “farther along” part and less of the “looking at the world.” This is so much better. It really is a waste of time looking at others and wondering why they’ve got it so good while our own lives kind of suck at the time. Let’s face it — we’re always going to be able to find someone doing better than ourselves, no matter how good we’ve got it.
But on the flip side, there will always be someone doing worse too. And maybe they look at us and wonder, “why do they have it so good?” Garrels would rather focus on where we ourselves are going.
We’ll get it someday, so what better than to live in the sunshine now. Don’t worry about how others are doing. Throw out the petty jealousies and live life with the joy that comes from knowing God. At times, it will be hard. Very hard. But farther along, we’ll know…