Can We Skip to the Good Part?
It keeps getting stuck in my head: the catchy line that started a TikTok trend. Maybe you’ve seen these viral videos too: a mediocre image is quickly replaced by a drool-worthy montage of pictures as AJR sings, “Can we skip to the good part?” An exhausted pregnant woman is now glowing with a baby in her arms; a frustrated couple is instantaneously surrounded by joyous family and friends on their wedding day; a weary traveler now lounges beach side watching the sunset. The message is clear: this is the good part.
I must confess that I’ve watched more than a few of these TikToks, but now quickly scroll past them when they pop up on my phone. Contentment is hard in this season and watching someone’s hardship disappear in an instant doesn’t help. I know it’s just the work of masterful editing paired with catchy lyrics, yet it stirs up a longing deep in my heart. Oh to be able to skip the hard parts of life and get to the good!
Out of curiosity I recently searched for the lyrics to AJR’s “Skip to the Good Part.” Verse one says this:
“If you put this scene on a movie screen
Is it called a happy end?
If the world gets me
Where I’m supposed to be
Will I know I’ve made it then?
It’s so hard
Can we skip to the good part?”
Relatable, isn’t it? No wonder this song has sparked a trend! We all feel this way at times- wanting a happy ending and wondering if we will ever get there. We want to skip all the hardships of life and fast forward to the good.
Those of us who are grieving can certainly feel this, especially when we compare our lives with those of other grievers. On social media, we see pictures of widows who seem to have gotten to the good part. They have found some sort of happy ending: a new adventure, a new relationship or even just healing and peace. Though they may admit that it is still hard and touched with grief, their life sure looks so good. We want what they have because it looks better than what we are experiencing in our messy middle. We want our own happy ending.
I imagine God’s people felt the same way as they wandered through the desert for 40 years. The Promised Land had been right in front of them but because they didn’t trust God, they now found themselves in difficult places, having to trust God for their basic survival. I always imagined that the Israelites were wandering around lost for those 40 years, but a more careful reading of Scripture tells a different story. Each step of the way, God purposefully led them into new places where they experienced His power and faithfulness in new ways. Each step of the way, He built in them the trust they needed to enter into the Promised Land. I can’t help but wonder how many times during those exhausting, dusty, weary years, the people thought to themselves, “Can we skip to the good part?”
In Deuteronomy 2, God is about to lead the Israelites through dangerous territory and they are understandably afraid. After all, there are enemies ahead that could easily overpower them and following God feels anything but safe and comfortable. Moses, knowing their fear, reminds them of an important truth. He tells the Israelites “He knows you're going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, you have lacked nothing.” (vs. 7). How do they respond? “So we went on.” (vs.8).
Reminded of who God is and all He has done for them, their response is simply to continue following Him - they go on. They followed Him into new territory, filled with unknown dangers, trusting He would continue to be with them. Moses had reminded them of something crucial. They couldn’t avoid the difficult journey ahead but they had something better. They had God’s presence.
If we look back to AJR’s lyrics, we see a longing that the “good part” of life doesn’t quite fulfill. The lyrics question what the good part even is and how we will ever know if it arrives. Is the good part vacations, weddings and babies born like we see on TikTok? Is it adventures taken, goals achieved and dreams come true? It’s an important question to ask ourselves: what do we define as the “good part”?
I’ve had my share of montage worthy moments: I married my best friend, gave birth to my beloved child, and went on a dream vacation. Each of those was wonderful but the joy didn’t last. Marriage is hard, raising children is even harder, vacations eventually come to an end, and death comes when we least expect it. I’ve found that when the good I seek is comfort, safety and pleasure, I attain it only to have it slip from my grasp.
God offers us so much more: He offers us Himself. Just like for the Israelites wandering in the desert, the Promised Land was about more than safety, security and provision. It was about being with God and living in his presence. It was about returning to a right relationship with God and living in the blessedness of obedience and trust. The hope of the Promised Land is the same hope that we have before us today: not of remarriage, exciting adventures, or our children thriving, but of experiencing the presence of God in this life - our desert place - and in the life to come - our true Promised Land.
If you are weary in your waiting and longing to skip to the good part today, let me remind you:
God knows that you are in the wilderness.
He has been with you and He will continue to be with you.
You have lacked nothing that you’ve needed to keep going.
So…go on.
Let’s go on. Let’s trust that He is here with us, right in life’s messy middle. He has promised that one day, we will indeed get to the best part.
Love,
