There’s have-to. And then there’s get-to.
There are some things in life that are a joy. Things that we do, and while we’re doing them, we catch ourselves saying “I can’t believe I get to do this.”
There are some things in life that aren’t such a joy. Things that we do, and even before we do them, we catch ourselves saying “I can’t believe I have to do this.”
When we see something or someone as a have-to, something inside of us goes sour. And they become an endurance contest. Or worse.
This is the hardness of the heart that Jesus talks about in the Gospels.
We’ve all done it. Without really thinking about it, we decide that someone or something is a have-to. And then spend way too much time thinking about that have-to, complaining, making ourselves miserable.
The thing is, nothing has to be a have-to. And nothing has to be a get-to. We get to choose.
And you’re thinking, hold on. There are some things in life that are never going to be get-to’s. They’re so completely awful that they’re never going to be anything but a have-to.
If you choose to see it that way. If you choose to harden your heart.
If you do, then you’re going to miss how God would have blessed you – through something you wrote off as a have-to.
Maybe God wants to use that have-to as a mirror. To show you something about yourself that you don’t know. Or don’t want to know.
Or maybe God is sending the have-to to you for help. To open the door for them to change. Change that can only happen, because someone didn’t see them as a have-to.
Will you write things and people off as have-to? Will you close yourself off to God’s grace, and make yourself miserable in the process?
Or will you see things and people as get-to? Will you open yourself up to God, and make the things of life – big and little alike – occasions for grace?
The difference between have-to and get-to is everything. And you get to choose.
