We have to remember that life is always in progress.
When I was a kid, when our television programming was interrupted for a Presidential speech or for a weather report, we would rejoin our show in progress. In progress, meant that we had missed a portion of the show. Sometimes, depending on the show, it was very difficult to figure out what was going on. Sometimes it was close to impossible.
I think we need to remember that whenever we meet someone new, that their life is in progress. We have such a tendency as human beings, to compare ourselves to others. Why is that person so much more successful? Why does her marriage seem so perfect? Why does she seem to have it all? Of course the flip side is, why is she late everywhere she goes? Why are their kids always fighting? Why is their house always a mess?
We love to compare ourselves to one another. We either make ourselves feel badly for not measuring up or make ourselves feel good because someone else’s life seems to be such a disaster. But, the truth is, whether good or bad, everyone’s life is in progress.
For the people we choose to put on some kind of pedestal, we need to keep in mind that we have absolutely no idea how hard they have worked or what they have been through to get where they are. We also have to remember that we may just be getting started on something, that someone else has been working on for years. We shouldn’t compare our beginning, to their in progress.
For the people that we choose to look down on, they too are in progress. Here again, we have no idea what they have been through or how hard they have tried. Everyone’s personal journey looks different. Theirs may have been particularly difficult.
The Bible tells us that, we are all “fearfully and wonderfully,” made by a loving God. We are all different, but all made in His image. We are all called to serve Him in some unique way. How we serve and how we walk our faith journey will look a little bit different for everyone. There will be sprinters and those who like to stop and smell the flowers. There are those that will leave the path on detours here and there, eventually to find their way back.
The point is, as long as we are here on planet earth, we are in progress. If we keep our eyes on God, where they should be, we can resist the temptation to compare our progress with anyone else’s. It’s not supposed to be about us or them. It’s supposed to be about Him. That can be a difficult truth to accept, but it’s still truth.
In the mean time, if we are tempted to compare, we have to remember that we are all in progress and as long as our faith journey is leading us into the arms of Jesus, who cares who gets there first? After all, it’s not a race.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy