If my husband had to describe me I am sure one adjective he would use would be competitive......Not so sure that is a good thing, but true! When we were dating we had some pretty heated Rummy matches! Sometimes they would even end up in arguments.....after several years of marriage we now know to keep the peace it is best if we play on the same team! This competitive nature also carries over from time to time watching my son's little league games and in other areas of my life.......
I read a friends facebook post yesterday : Oswald Chambers wrote, “Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.” To that I would add, “Be careful not to turn others’ lives into the model for your own.” Allow God to be as creative with you as He is with each of us, From Francis Chan Crazy Love........This post really made me examine my own life when it comes to competition in life.
I read a friends facebook post yesterday : Oswald Chambers wrote, “Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.” To that I would add, “Be careful not to turn others’ lives into the model for your own.” Allow God to be as creative with you as He is with each of us, From Francis Chan Crazy Love........This post really made me examine my own life when it comes to competition in life.
I compare a Spiritual life like pregnancy....your appetite totally changes! Before I was pregnant I could not stand yogurt! Now I love it!! Same thing with my life. In my post, "Confessions of a Pastor's wife I shared that at one point in my life I wanted nothing to do with church, now God and His work are central in my life. I also hated writing and English class when I was in school. Now I love to write!!
About five years ago God began to really change my heart. I began to feel a call on my life to move more towards some kind of ministry.....I mean writing and/or speaking. I am not really sure how to move in that direction.....and there are days when I get frustrated and may feel a tinge of competition with someone else that is living out their calling to the fullest....whatever that calling may be. But, I look at their life and think they are having "success" or doing exactly what God called them to do. Sometimes I look up at God and ask, "Lord, when is it my turn? I want to serve you more!" I imagine He sits on His throne and gives me the look I give my kids when they try to tell me how to drive or that I missed a parking spot, and He says to me, "Don't you Trust me? I know what I am doing! I have plans for you!"
In my devotional yesterday from "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young it said, "The most important thing to determine is what to do right now. Instead of scanning the horizon of your life, looking for things that need to be done, concentrated on the task before you and the One who never leaves your side.......Trust me to show you what to do when you have finished what you are doing now." How true is that! I have many ministry opportunities right in front of me! As long as I live each day to bring Him glory, that is "success".
I think all too often we all look at others' lives from the outside and compete to have the "success" that they have. Life is not a competition. God has a plan for each of us and He never rights the same story twice. Isaiah 55 tells us that His thoughts are Higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways! I heard Beth Moore say in a Bible study, "we are only responsible for the yes, He is responsible for the How" (how His plans are accomplished in our lives)
One of the verses closest to my heart is Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
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