A man was very unhappy with his work life. He shared his troubles with a friend, who, in response, asked, “What do you really want to do?”  He replied, “I really want to be a lawyer and work in public service.”  His friend said, “What’s stopping you?”  The man snorted a harsh laugh, “I’d have to go to law school. That’s three years! That’s too long.”  His friend said, “How old will you be in three years if you go to law school?”  The man responded, “Fifty-two.”  His friend asked, “How old will you be in three years if you don’t go to law school?”  The man looked puzzled and said, “Fifty-two!”  The friend wisely said, “It seems to me that in three years, you can be more miserable, or in three years, you can walk across a stage to something you really want to do.”

What’s going to happen in your life in the next four years? I will put in the usual exclusionary clause: if Jesus does not return. 

In the next four years, my grandsons will grow older. Maybe another grandchild will be born. I want to be there to see them take their first steps, go to first grade, and maybe even learn to drive a tractor. After forty-one years, I will retire from being a lead pastor. I will take up a new calling, helping churches take their next step. I hope to reset forty acres of orange grove at the ranch and get a watering project done. There are some books I want to write. There are places I want to see with my own eyes. 

In the next four years, I want to be a good citizen. I will pray for our political leaders at all levels. I will vote. I hope when my candidates win, I will be gracious; when they lose, I hope I will be gracious then as well. I will remember that every political decision will impact people. Some people I care about will be afraid after the elections; some people will be unrealistic in their expectations. Most of all, I will remember the wisdom of the Psalms: “Put not your trust in princes.”

In the next four years, I want to walk closer with Jesus. I hope to have more time to think about life with him. I want to pray deeper. I want to follow Jesus to new adventures and new experiences that will draw me closer to him. I want to sit with my wife in worship instead of being the one on the platform. There is an old hymn with the line, “Oh, for faith to trust him more.”  In the next four years, I want to trust him more.

In the next four years, I’d like to develop some deeper friendships. As I begin to lose people from my past, I sense the need not to replace friends, because that cannot be done, but to add friends so life stays rich, and I can have people to do life with.

There will be some temptations to divert me from my hopes. When I was a pastor in rural Kentucky, I remember an older man telling me his biggest mistake was retiring, coming home, and sitting in his Lazy-boy recliner. He said, “Preacher, I came home, sat down, and now I can’t get up.”  I don’t want that to be me.

Not being the most disciplined person, I will feel the temptation to just focus on myself. Some of that would be good; some would be unhelpful and unhealthy. A study by a well-known psychiatric clinic showed a direct correlation between people who focus too much on themselves and mental illness. The key to health is not to focus just on yourself. I don’t want to become the old man who watches the news all day and gets filled with anger over things I can’t control.

What about you? In the next four years, will you bless people? Will you notice the least of these? Will you do what Jesus said even if it is against what your political party says is right? Will you seek a deeper walk with Jesus? Will you ask God to guide your thinking? Will you be open to new people that God brings into your life? 

The next four years will happen. What will you do with them?