Proverbs 3:5-6, perhaps one of the most often-quoted scriptures, is loaded with nuggets of wisdom: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. The first four words are weighty ones.
“Trust in the Lord…” Not your Ferrari or your size-four body (although that would be sorta special) or your knack for rhubarb pie winning the blue ribbon at the county fair or your ability to enter a room and turn heads or your Martha Stewart table setting with real flowers or…well, you get the point. I’m afraid that too many of us talk about trusting in the Lord, but do we? Or do we “lean on our own understanding” and place our confidence in ourselves, and as long as no one has berated us or shown us up or one-upped us at our game of self-worth, we go to bed pleased with our day. And not once do we give credit to our Creator for endowing us with that giftedness.
In my book A Little Faith Lift…Finding Joy Beyond Rejection, I write about how much time we spend trying to measure up, comparing ourselves to others who always win the “Better Battle.” We aim to earn our value, not based on what God says about us, but what others say about us (or we silently say about ourselves). Teddy Roosevelt once stated, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and he was right.
The problem with trying to “fit in” or “be better than” is that our attempts do not allow God to “make our paths straight.” We zig and we zag with everyone we meet, seeing something unique in them we want to see in ourselves, and continually wondering if we made the right move, said the right thing, dressed in the right style, and acted in the right way. Exhausting.
How much easier to recognize that God is the audience that counts, and in Him—and only Him—we can place our trust!
Patty
Patty, a wife, mother and great grandmother, has spent forty-five of her fifty years of marriage in professional baseball. A retired teacher, Patty speaks professionally and writes a weekly, Christian column for area newspapers. She plays tennis and Pickleball, reads, hangs out with family and friends, roots for the KC Chiefs and thinks about exercising.
Patty is certified to speak on the evils of sex trafficking and has presented a Tedx Talk on the Rewards of Rejection. Her first book, A Little Faith Lift…Finding Joy Beyond Rejection, addresses how laughter covers a multitude of humiliating experiences. She should know.
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Website: www.alittlefaithlift.com
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