Are We Measuring Up?
Bigger, better, best. That seems to be our mindset. It was ours when we wanted a car that could hold seven people. I drove that sweet ride for nearly 12 years. But, then “smaller” seemed the best choice when I was looking for a new car.
Is it just me or does it seem parking spaces have shrunk in size? AND, with sky-rocketing gas prices, my tank was costing more to fill it up. Now, my sweet ride easily fits in parking spaces and costs way less to fill it up.
Most people live on striving for something big, bigger, or biggest. You know what I mean. The big car, the big catch, the huge promotion, the most fuel-efficient car, the cleanest house, being the senior class valedictorian, the first chair in the band, largest office in the complex, the most pristine yard in the neighborhood, or in the case of my apartment home’s residents and their vegetable garden plots — the best crop harvest!
Oh, the pressures we put on ourselves to BE, DO and HAVE, all the while putting ourselves into a “measuring up” mentality. Along with the great expectations we put on our own shoulders, we also think that God is holding out His yardstick measuring us.
You’ve probably heard the quote: “Who you are is God’s gift to you, but what you make of yourself, is your gift to God.” I love that quote, but inside that quote is “what YOU make of yourself”. That’s pressure no matter how you look at it. But, lighten up! God doesn’t measure us that way!
I sense God unveiling a wonderful “freedom from striving” lesson today. Rather than thinking about God’s expectations for us, we should realize He takes pleasure in us when we are simply living and being in each day, not in the pressure of BIG accomplishments or achieving first place in anything.
I recall Saint Therese of Lisieux (affectionately known as the “Little Flower”) who was known for her “little ways” of pleasing God and others. St. Therese became a Carmelite nun at the age of 15. With characteristic humility, she wrote in her memoir, “Story of a Soul”, about doing everything in life, especially the little things, out of love for God and for our neighbors. She showed so much love for our Lord in answering His call for humility and service, that she made the ordinary extraordinary!
Therese saw herself as “the Little Flower of Jesus” because, not like a brilliant rose or elegant lily, she was like the simple wildflowers in fields, unnoticed by the greater population, yet growing and giving glory to God. She bloomed where God planted her. Her “little ways” teaches us how to turn our little ways into extraordinary ways with that same kind of simple love.
A smile, a note of encouragement, a phone call, always having a positive word, a simple unnoticed task to brighten the life of another, a simple ask: “Do you have something I can pray with you about?” and so many other simple deeds, done with love. The smallest action, done with love, is more important than great deeds done for personal glory and gratification.
I think that the verse that describes how God measures our ways is best found in Proverbs 3:5,6 “TRUST in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, but IN ALL YOUR WAYS, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
God’s measuring stick isn’t a measuring stick at all. It is a gentle nudge toward little ways that acknowledge Him.