Starfleet seems really exciting but, in general, I don’t think it is. We’ve only had small glimpses into Starfleet and all of those seem to be the exciting exceptions to what I imagine is a relatively boring rule.
Kirk’s Enterprise was exploring the vast reaches of unexplored space.
Picard’s Enterprise was the flagship of the Federation and always involved in important business.
Deep Space Nine was located at the mouth of the universe’s only stable wormhole.
Voyager was the only Starfleet vessel trapped in a remote part of the galaxy.
Archer’s Enterprise was the first human vessel to venture into deep space.
All of those scenarios are really exciting and center on exciting circumstances.
What about all of those other starships, though, that aren’t the flagship?
What about all of those starships on long-term scientific missions cataloguing single-celled organisms on uninhabited planets?
What about all of those starships that just transport goods back and forth from Federation planet to Federation planet?
We always think about first contacts, Klingon civil wars and encounters with the Borg. We want Starfleet to be all these flare ups of excitement and intrigue without a boring day or an uneventful three weeks.
We also want the same thing from our lives with God.
Everyone gets excited about those moments when God clearly shows himself or those moments when God does something obviously miraculous. Those moments can energize our faith and give us momentum to keep pressing forward with God. However, like the parts of Starfleet we don’t see, our relationships with God are mostly composed of day-to-day interactions that wouldn’t make for great television.
I’ve seen God do amazing things in my life, breathtaking things that only he could have done. For the most part, though, my relationship with God hasn’t been that flashy: reading his word, praying in the morning, going to church regularly and singing worship songs in my car. God is omnipotent and we should expect him to do amazing things. But we shouldn’t be discouraged if we find ourselves in a season that is less Wolf 359 and more red dwarf cataloguing.
We should live our lives expectantly. We should expect God to do mind-blowing, world altering, miraculous works. And, even in those seasons that aren’t nearly as flashy, we should still expect God to some amazing work in and through our lives.
The rest of Starfleet may be boring but a life with our God never is.
How do you keep from getting discouraged by “boring” seasons with God?
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