“Every morning I am up before the sun. Three times a day I walk two miles to fetch water for my sister, my grandmother, and me. While I walk, I dream of going to school.”

Today God is being faithful by reminding me that I am ungrateful.  I have been reminded, not once, but twice today about how people in Africa walk miles to retrieve water. As I read stories like the one above, my first reaction is to pity them or get sad. But the following scripture kept coming to mind:

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

It seems insensitive to say that walking miles just to get clean water is light or momentary. What could I possibly know about this when I live on a college campus where clean drinking water is available 20 ft. from me. But these “light and momentary troubles” are not compared with other hardships; they are examined next to “eternal glory.” This changes things. As people in Africa experience the weight and exhaustion of seeking clean water, we also encounter the difficulty in seeking living water in the midst of everyday circumstances.

As I’ve gone throughout my day, I have been bombarded with decisions, assignments, commitments, and the like. I sound so foolish thinking back to a point today when I conversed with a friend about how I was unsure if I wanted to get a 4 year or master’s degree. Do I not understand that people dream about just setting foot into a school, degree or not! In all of the decision and expectation placed on us, we lose sight of Christ. Sometimes I feel as if I quite literally have to walk miles to experience living water. Sometimes, I need to get as far as I can away from the computer and cell phone that seem to beckon me, and instead walk to my Savior who beckons me.

With all of that being said, the question that emerges is “What can we do to experience more Jesus in our everyday lives?” The answer: Less doing. We can stop busying ourselves and just rest. We can stop busying ourselves and look for Christ who reveals Himself in all aspects of our lives.

And as we face our daily discomforts and calamities, we too experience an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. For we know that we are found in Christ, and what a joy it is to be found in Him!