When I was a kid I heard the parable of the rich rancher. He had started with nothing, but worked hard, bought land and became the richest person around. He had so many acres and livestock that there wasn’t very much that he didn’t own in the county. One day a childhood friend came to visit the rancher. He was excited to show off how much he had acquired and built through the years. They drove all through the land, past fences and through gates stopping along the way. When they got back to the ranch house, the rancher bragged to his friend, “Look around. I own everything you see!” Just then the setting sun caught the friend’s eye. He said, “Do you own that too?” In that moment, the rancher gazed upward and realized that he had built a life on basing his value horizontally comparing himself with others rather than vertically finding his worth in God.
In 1 Samuel 17 David faced Goliath. All the descriptions of Goliath show that Israel measured his worth by his height, his armor and his fighting record. When they compared theirselves to him, they ran in fear. However, when David arrived, he knew who he was in God’s eyes. He didn’t measure his worth in being a shepherd or the youngest in his family, so he was t afraid of Goliath. In fact, he got a righteous anger in him at Goliath for defying God and his fellow countrymen for being afraid and doing nothing. His own brothers taunted him because of his age, his occupation and his inexperience, but David wasn’t phased. He spoke to Goliath, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (NLT). He didn’t compare himself to Goliath, but rather he compared Goliath to God and understood victory was coming.
In Galatians 6:4 Paul reminds us to not fall into the same trap of comparison that so many have fallen into. He wrote, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.” When God created you, He had very specific things in. Ind for you to do. You don’t need to compare your calling and work with others. Are you being faithful where God has planted you and doing what He’s asked of you? If so, you are being successful in God’s eyes. Quit trying to prove yourself to others, gain their approval and comparing what God asked you to do with what He’s called them to do. When you’ve shown faithfulness in the little things, He will give you more. The next time the sun catches your eye, let it remind you to look upwards rather than at others.
Photo by ARTO SURAJ on Unsplash
