Resting On My Laurels

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

I've heard of the phrase "don't rest on your laurels".  It means to not stop doing what you're doing simply because you've had a great accomplishment.  In doing Kingdom business, this is true:

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

However, when it comes to worldly achievements (of which paying off a car, in part, is), honestly, make those laurels a freakin' hammock, because unless it truly is Kingdom business, unless it is doing something for Christ, it doesn't really matter:

2Ti_2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

I've been wrestling a little with the concept of not resting on my laurels, because of my own laurels.  Let me share it with you:

On July 2, 2021, I paid off the car I was driving, a 2016 Ford Fiesta, rendering me debt-free for the first time in my adult life. (To be debt-free is a good thing says Romans 13:8)  It was the culmination of about 12 years of hard work and sacrifice.  It was sweet relief, and it felt incredible.

My ecstasy of that financial status was even further expanded on April 23, 2022, thanks to an "on the whim" encounter with Gates McFadden, an actress who played Dr. Beverly Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation".  This was at a fan convention I attended with some people in 2022.  I decided to get a picture with her for two reasons.  One, because I didn't want to leave the convention with too many trinkets (Luke 12:15), so the money I reserved for merch went to visiting another celebrity, and two, because of the encouragement from one convention volunteer, who reminded the crowd that the celebrities were simply normal people.  This allowed me to relieve any anxieties of possible fawning, also known as idolatry (I Corinthians 10:14).  Ms. McFadden was someone whom I watched on television and whose performance I enjoyed.

After the picture, she asked me who I was and what I did for a living.  To this day, I still have no idea what she asked me next, but for some reason, probably because of the elation I was in anyway that day (I decided to make the convention trip a celebration of being debt-free), I tearfully revealed that I paid off all my debts.

Now, you have to understand why revealing this, to anyone, was so important to me.  To many people, being debt-free is like winning the lottery.  If too many people know you have extra money, people tend to start coming after you.  Still, it was a burning desire in my heart to rejoice.  So much so, that when I was praised for this accomplishment, being told how hard I worked for it, I simply lost it.  She knew how much this meant to me, even going as far as calling me back to her booth for a few extra minutes, because she knew I was an emotional wreck.

So, there you have it.  My laurels.  Being debt-free, and receiving an experience that convinces me that I never need to ever go on a TV game show, because I received the same brain chemicals right then and there.  

This is not to say I never experienced moments of good fortune ever again, even those that restored, in part, those brain chemicals similar to someone who, say, spun $1 on the Price Is Right Showcase Showdown wheel, then spun $1 in the Bonus Spin for a $26,000 payday.  I've received windfalls that were very miniscule compared to Drew Carey's prize gallery, yet the feeling of excitement and elation were the same.  Perhaps it's the virtue of contentment (Hebrews 13:5), and the knowledge of a seemingly small sum being extreme fortune.  Is the following true of me? 

Ecc_2:26a  For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy:

Or is it that I have a personal maxim based on the following Scripture:

Ecc 7:14a  In the day of prosperity be joyful,

to which I have interpreted as a command of God concerning every pay day.  Is not a pay day a "day" of "prosperity"?

Now, this is not to say that I am free from the possibility that all of this will fall apart, and I end up destitute.  Here's Ecclesiastes 7:14 in its entirety:

Ecc 7:14  In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him. 

And consider the wisdom of Job (I included bracketed text for clarification, not to add to the Word of God, but simply for translation into modern English):

Job 2:10  But he said unto [his wife], Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive [good stuff happening to us] at the hand of God, and shall we not receive [bad stuff happening to us]? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. 

What is the correct response to suddenly losing it all?

And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

(Job 1:21-22)

Paul even backs this up:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

(Php 4:11-13)

So, what truly is "resting on my laurels"?  Contentment