Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There by Ruth Graham

Author:Ruth Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HOWARD BOOKS

Trying to Measure Up

We have such a hard time believing God would accept us, let alone invite us to come closer. Could He actually want us? So often we transfer the attitudes and behaviors of people onto God. We tend to think that God is exclusive like those who have rejected us. That He is looking for ways to exclude us. That if we blow it or make a mistake, He will wash His hands of us. We strive so hard to measure up. We make our lists of things we believe are acceptable to God, and we exhaust ourselves trying to do them. My uncle Clayton Bell used this illustration in one of his sermons: A farmer was dissatisfied with the size of his chickens’ eggs; they weren’t big enough for him. So he went out and looked for the largest ostrich egg he could find. He carried it into his henhouse one morning and said, “Try harder!” Isn’t that how we feel sometimes? We are trying our best, but we just don’t see ourselves measuring up to the standard we think God has set.

Author John Eldredge writes in his book Wild at Heart that “every man is haunted by the question, ‘Am I really a man? Have I got what it takes . when it counts?’” 1 Have I got what it takes? I think we all struggle with that question in one form or another. Do I have what it takes to please God? To cope with life? The rejection we’ve faced has a way of underscoring our feelings of inadequacy, causing us to answer the question in the negative. No, we don’t have what it takes—we don’t measure up. We believe God is disappointed in us. We’re disappointed in ourselves. So what do we do? We do our best to cover up our sense of failure, perhaps with busyness, anger, or even addiction. Or maybe we try to prove ourselves. We try to show God and others that we are okay. But the truth is we are not okay. We need God’s help.

Sometimes we ourselves can generate the sense of rejection we feel. We do this by comparing ourselves with other people. It seems that every week another catalogue arrives in my mailbox. The models in the catalogue are thin—no muffin tops in these pages. They have perfect skin, their hair is long and silky, and their teeth are straight and gleaming white. Then I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror! My aging image doesn’t fare well by comparison. I get discouraged and feel defeated. Again, I don’t measure up.

We don’t even need catalogues or magazines to know this experience. How many of us have looked at others and silently wished we could trade lives with them? They can pay their bills; they have good jobs; their families are stable; they have new cars and nice homes; their kids are well behaved. By comparison, my life looks ragged, lackluster, or a failure. What’s worse, I feel powerless to make it any better.

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