“zaocation” is what we called it. last weekend, team zao took a vacation on the beach. we got a nice hotel, nice food, and crystal blue water. all week, talk consisted of washing our 4 outfits in a real washer, a hot shower, and a comfortable bed. after a long series of unfortunate events, we walked past the pristine pool and into a room with a hot tub on the balcony, AC, and white sheets. I plopped onto my giant bed and let a sigh of relief because I finally had comfort! maybe the stains would get off my favorite shirt and maybe my back pain would go away from my tent. we swam in the pool for awhile, ate a fancy dinner, and went back upstairs to luxury and wifi.
well, I couldn’t find the washer, the shower wasn’t hot, and the bed didn’t nearly match up to what I wanted it to. Actually, to be honest, I missed my tent. I missed breeze at night and I wished the rest of my squad was there to eat our normal boiled eggs and bread.
I think this is a lot like us with God. How many times do I leave this life with Christ, that’s sometimes uncomfortable, smelly, tiring, and hard, for the thing that looks nice. The back aches of the trials with Christ, the trials of I experience because I chose the road less traveled, look nothing like the smooth white sheets and cool AC. but, man, how dissatisfied do I leave? I had fun, but nothing says home more like the family that waits for me when the taxi enters the gates or my one of two pairs of shorts I hand wash once a week. I think we were made for a life like this. Maybe for you or me in the future it doesn’t look like spotty WiFi once a week or roosters being your alarm clock. Maybe it looks like choosing the thing that’s a little less comfortable. For me, in 25 days, it looks like saying yes and going to a college I’m not 100% happy about. Or for you, it could look like having that awkward conversation you don’t want to have.
at it’s root, we find glamorizing is actually pride. I think my plan is more important than Gods, so I find comfort in what could’ve been. To think what I want is important enough to long over. To miss the now, the hurt and pain in the now. It’s easy, it is. To think the warm showers are better or the clean sheets are comfier. I long and I pine for this life of comfort, but as Christians, I believe we should long for the complete opposite. I can guarantee, Christians, the comfortable choice will always leave you looking for more. It will always be dissatisfying, no matter how hard we try. I think we shouldn’t just merely choose the hard choice, but I think we waste our lives and our influence when we don’t bask in the hard choice. I think we were made to stand in awe of our creator and be satisfied in that. I think being joyfully satisfied in this life is actually our duty! I don’t think to be satisfied means to have only good days and to never work. Being satisfied is much more. What is being satisfied to you, and does it match up with what the Lord says it is?
Ecclesiastes 2:24 “There is nothing better than for a person than that he should drink and eat and find enjoyment in all his toil.”
Psalm 16:11 “you make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
The bed will always look comfier in the photo, the air will always feel crisper in your mind, but I don’t think I want to miss it anymore. I’m here to tell you, the grass is not greener on the other side. The sheets are not whiter in the hotel bed.
