Young women often fall into the trap of thinking they’re constantly stuck in some kind of intermediate state, waiting until the day they actually “have a life”. The problem is that this mindset never goes away. The perfect formula for happiness just keeps changing. The cycle goes something like this:

A young woman spends her days and nights dreaming of Prince Charming. And once he finally comes along she sits around drumming her fingers, wondering when he’s going to put a ring on one of them. After a few weeks the excitement wears off and a new season of discontentment sets in: The Engagement. After a few months, the big day arrives after all, and with it the promised marital bliss. Ah, marriage at last. But the discontentment doesn’t end there either. Before long her attention has moved from the home décor section to the children’s department. But when the sweet little baby that is going to fulfill her life arrives, she soon wishes he were older and more independent. And when her child grows older, she finds a new set of problems, and so a new set of reasons to look forward to the next phase. Unfortunately, that new phase brings more problems of its own. At long last, she gets to the end of her days and finds herself discontent with the life she’s lived.

Whatever it takes to make your dreams come true, whether it’s marriage and children, or just being a little better off, the story always ends the same. Putting our hope and happiness in our circumstances only leads to never-ending dissatisfaction. The grass only seems greener on the other side.

I’m not saying some stages of life aren’t to be desired more than others. Marriage is way better than engagement, but it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. If we spend each phase grumbling and longing for the next we’ll miss what God has planned and is doing now. The problem is that we don’t trust the goodness of God’s plan. The heart of our discontentment is unbelief.

And so the answer to our never-ending discontentment is to cultivate real faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1). Our faith isn’t to be placed in our hope that the next best thing will fulfill us. Our satisfaction lies in God. God is a wise Father, knowing the end from the beginning (Is. 46:10). He has planned all of our days. He planned everything for our welfare and not for evil (Jer. 29:11). He has ordained each stage of life and each momentary affliction to bring us to something much bigger than the next point on the line. He is bringing us to Himself, and our hearts will never be content until they rest in that promise. The only day we should long for is the day we get to be with Him.