There’s this little voice a lot of us hear but don’t always say out loud:
“Am I missing it?”
It hits at different points doesn’t it? For some, it’s scrolling through Instagram and seeing people your age already married, already traveling the world, already leading in their careers. For others, it’s at a wedding when you’re still single, or at a baby shower when you don’t have kids, or even just catching up with an old friend and realizing their life looks like the one you thought you’d be living by now.
The question behind it all: Am I behind? Did I miss the memo? Is everyone else figuring life out while I’m fumbling through?
I’ve felt that too, in my personal relationships, my work, pretty much everything….
The truth is, we live in a culture that feeds that anxiety. Everything around us is built to compare, quite literally, enginereed specifically for comparison and engagement. Social media makes it easy to put your quiet Tuesday night up against someone’s “perfect” vacation reel. Job updates on LinkedIn make you wonder why your résumé doesn’t read like theirs. Even at church, it’s easy to see people in different life stages and wonder why God hasn’t given you what they have yet.
But, what if you’re not missing it?
The Myth of Falling Behind
We tend to think of life as a race.
There’s some invisible finish line we’re all supposed to be sprinting toward. Graduate -> Get married -> Buy the house -> Land the dream job -> Have the kids -> Build the savings -> Retire early
And the people who check those boxes quicker?
We assume they’re “ahead.”
When you actually look at Scripture, God never frames life as a competition. He doesn’t measure your worth by how fast you climb or how much you’ve accomplished by a certain age.
In fact, some of the most significant moments in the Bible happened after long seasons of waiting.
Abraham and Sarah waited decades for a child.
Moses spent forty years in the desert before leading Israel out of Egypt.
Even Jesus lived thirty quiet years before beginning His ministry.
So if you feel like you’re “behind,” you’re in good company. God often uses the waiting to shape us.
What He does call us to is faithfulness.
Jesus never says, “Come find your timeline.”
He simply says, “Follow Me.”
The Disciples Weren’t “Ahead”
When Jesus called the disciples, they weren’t on some fast track. They weren’t networking (imagine handing out business cards from tattered scrolls and carved rock, ha!) at the temple, or trying to build résumés in ministry. They weren’t even studying under the best rabbis, Most of them were fishing. Normal, everyday, probably stinky work. (Ever been in a fishing town? Yikes!)
And Jesus walked up to them and said, “Follow Me.”
That was it! No application to fill out, no qualifications besides their yes, no timeline they had to hit.
Just an invitation to walk with Him.
If anything, by cultural standards, the disciples were behind. They hadn’t made it into the “religious elite” nor had they climbed the ladder of influence. But in Jesus’ eyes, they weren’t missing it, they were exactly where they needed to be to hear His call.
What If “Here” Is Holy?
So much of our stress comes from believing that meaning is always in the next thing. Once I get married. Once I get the job. Once I move. Once I finally get out of debt. Once I find my people. Then life will start.
I believe that this is one of the snares of the Devil. He uses distraction, even distraction of a good thing, to shift our focus.
If God is sovereign, then the very place you’re in right now, even the frustrating, confusing, ordinary parts are not wasted.
The psalmist says, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (Psalm 16:6). What does that mean?
God’s not random with your story.
Where you are is not an accident.
What if “here” is holy?
Missing Out vs. Missing Him
At the core of it, the only way to truly “miss it” is to miss Him.
You can hit all the milestones, achieve everything your peers do, and still feel empty if Jesus isn’t at the center. But you can also live a life that looks small on paper and still carry eternal weight if you’ve been faithful where God put you.
Jesus said in John 15, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Notice He doesn’t say, “Hustle harder.” He says, “Stay with Me.”
The point isn’t how fast you move, but who you’re moving with.
A Better Way to Measure
Here’s the freedom: You don’t have to measure your life by someone else’s highlight reel.
Instead, measure it by faithfulness.
Did you show up to love the people God placed around you today?
Did you honor Him with the work in front of you, even if no one claps for it?
Did you carve out time to be with Him, to listen, to pray, to abide?
It’s not wasted, and it’s definitely not “behind.”
That’s actually the stuff of eternal significance.
And when you look back someday, those will be the moments that mattered most.
So, What If You’re Not Missing It?
What if you’re not behind schedule?
What if you’re not too late?
What if you’re not supposed to have everything figured out by now?
What if the pace God has you walking is actually the exact pace you need in order to stay in step with Him?
Because here’s the truth: God’s never in a hurry, but He’s also never late.
You don’t have to manufacture meaning or chase timelines.
You don’t have to live in the panic of being left out.
You just have to follow Jesus where you are.
And maybe that’s the reminder you need today: you’re not missing it.
The only way to miss out is to miss Him.
And He’s right here, calling you to follow.
Lucas Leibforth 
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