Your God Is Too Glorious: A 7-Day Devotional by Chad BirdSample

The Joys of an Unaccomplished Life

Most of us were watching cartoons or tracing the ABCs in our kindergarten class the first time we heard that we would do great things. As we grew up, this mindset molded our perception of what matters. We were told to be all that we can be. Each chapter in our biography should be something to boast about: “When I Graduated with Honors,” “How I Landed a Job with a Fortune 500 Company,” “My Promotion to Management.” 

These big dreams do come true for some people. For most of us, they don’t. We, along with our dreams, careen off the highway and end up stuck in a ditch along the road to glory.

I went astray for two decades in the pursuit of my ambitions. I drove myself to be an accomplished person. I chased down the career I wanted and clawed my way up to the position I coveted. I pursued a degree, then another degree, then another, until I knew more about my PhD studies than the details of my children’s everyday lives.

When my big dreams came true, when I reached the fabled end of the rainbow, I found a pot of gold—fool’s gold. 

If I could rewind my life and go back twenty years, I would dream small and relish the joys of an unaccomplished life. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life,” Paul urges (1 Thessalonians 4:11, NIV). This is arguably one of the most un-American verses in the Bible. I must say these words over and over to silence the lifelong indoctrination I have received from a culture that idolizes those who do big things. I must make it my ambition not to let “awesome” define my relationships, tell me who I am, or guide me in discerning how and where God is found. 

To lead a quiet life doesn’t mean that you lower your expectations as much as you lower your gaze. Instead of looking up to the next accomplishment, the next rung on the ladder, you look down at the daily life you live, the children God has given you, the spouse by your side, your aging parents, your dear friends, the poor and needy—all those “little things” you miss when you’re always looking up to the “next big thing” in your life. 

What would a “quiet life” look like on a practical level for you right now?

Click here to learn more about Your God Is Too Glorious.