Every man must, at some point in his life, make peace with the fact that the vast majority of his efforts won’t ever be recognized on this earth. All the struggles, all the sweat, the quiet perseverance, the early mornings and the nights awake, most of it will remain exclusively between you and God.
All those times you were walking close to the abyss, all those times you felt you could carry no more, the moments of exhaustion and all those times you were just one more problem away from breaking down, that’s just the nature of your inheritance as a descendant of Adam. That’s the inescapable condition of living in a fallen world, often and quite accurately described as a valley of tears.
Some men might come to that conclusion and despair altogether, letting the innate loneliness of being a man consume them. They might choose to curse our first father for his weakness and his wickedness, for his pride in damning us all to an insufficient life.
But others, and I hope this will be you, will understand that we are not just children of Adam, but also, and more importantly, children of God by adoption and grace through Christ.
The former will complain and feel sorry for themselves, slowly watering the seeds of resentment and bitterness in their hearts, while the latter will accept the unavoidable loneliness of this temporary world as a necessary burden, offer it up to God, and keep walking forward, their gaze set on the promises of eternity and their shoulders strengthened by the promise of renewal.
Perhaps that is the most important choice you will ever make: what will you do once you realize this world isn’t enough? At that moment in time, the path ahead splits forever, and you’ll find that at the crossroads of awareness, one path leads to damnation, while the other one leads to heaven.
It’s nice to be seen. It’s good to have your efforts recognized. But that can’t ever be your driving force, not only because it’s fleeting and unpredictable, but most importantly, because it will never fulfill what your restless heart truly longs for: to be called by name by Our Savior and see in His loving gaze the recognition you had been looking for in the people of this world. We must bear the burden of unrecognized effort quietly, stubbornly, not expecting applause or praise, but simply out of love, for God and for the people we are sacrificing for.
Eventually, if we take the narrow road, when we are eventually summoned to His presence, He’ll welcome us with open arms and we’ll hear the words that will make all of this silent effort worth it: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Then, and only, then, will you understand that He was watching all along, giving you the strength to continue, and waiting for the moment when He would embrace you and give you the rest, peace, and recognition that you so desperately seek.
Ad Maiora Nati Sumus,
Juan
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Very timely for me, this. God's answer to an unspoken prayer. I appreciate your faithfulness in writing,
True growth in the spiritual life, I'd say, is shown by the ratio of how much you value people's opinions versus the Lord's.
(Spoiler alert: that love of God compared to fear of men goes through the roof.)