Our little Emerald just turned 3 months old, and like most babies, she’s sometimes frustrated by the short list of physical skills she possesses. Although she’s an easy baby, lately she’s demonstrated an eagerness to move on to the next thing.

When she’s put down for a diaper change, she wriggles her limbs, coaxing them to get stronger. As she rests in the vibrating infant seat, she strains to raise her head in an effort to get upright. When we stand her up in our laps, her shaky legs do their best to stay straight. And she can’t wait to sit on her own.

That’s how it is with us humans, even with mini-humans. We seem always to be questing after what’s coming next. For children, that’s physical gains. For adults, it’s in the world of business, academia, parenting, or any other endeavor-of-the-moment.

Pursuing excellence with eagerness is a good thing, unless of course we’re doing it with improper motives, such as racing to outdo someone else or chasing success for money. And what if we’re running after that next thing just to get away from what we’re doing now? We have to be careful in thinking about our what’s-next. God asks us to seek balance, living somewhere between questing and contentment.

As a young mom I used to long for my baby’s next developmental stage. “Once he can sit up, he’ll be much happier. When she can finally crawl, she won’t be so fussy. After he learns to walk, he’ll have something to do.” I was doing too much questing at the cost of appreciating the here-and-now. The problem is, when we’re constantly reaching for the future, we’ve already checked out of the present. And right along with that, we’re tempted to believe the lie that everything is always better, just ahead of where we are.

Of course we should make sensible plans for tomorrow, but never at the expense of today. We’ve all heard the expression, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” That quote, buried in a 1785 poem by Robert Burns, was written after he plowed through a nest of mice and was bothered by the unwitting destruction he caused this “family.”

His actual quote was: “The best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!” None of us know when our preparations and expected joy will be plowed through by unexpected happenstance, which is a biblical principle. And when we decide not to jump ahead of ourselves (or God), we’re released from the worry that usually accompanies over-planning.

But when God gives the green light, that’s when we go with gusto. As for little Emerald, judging by the way she’s gusto-ing toward each next physical milestone, I’d say she’s already been given the green.

“Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)