The Trap

It seems so easy to get caught up in the comparison trap. As a result, we pursue bigger, better, faster, costlier, and some other type of -er.

We compare our lives to other people's regularly and doing so I believe pushes us in the wrong direction for the wrong audience.

The danger in doing so is that the wrong direction will cost us time and resources that could be allocated to other areas of our lives. When we chase the bigger, faster, stronger, better - we wind up not owning those things, but find that they own us.

What's worse is that when we pursue these things that wind up owning us, we often times do it for the rest of the world to see. My kids get caught up in this all the time. When they get something brand new they have a list of friends to whom they can't wait to show it off. I'm just as bad, but I at least try to be sly about it... casually flashing the new shiny whilst in conversation or "accidentally" including it in a picture that gets posted to Facebook.

The issue with this is that the audience I'm caring most about often times is caught in the same trap as I am. So we wind up pushing each other to extreme limits in the name of having the best. There's no peace to be found in this pursuit because it will never end.

This trap spreads to many areas of our lives - the workplace, the sports arena, the home, and the community. One of the places I am saddest to see it is in our churches. Jesus saw this too and one day he spoke to this very issue, giving freedom and peace to all of us.

Near the end of Mark 12, we see Jesus with his disciples in the temple. For whatever reason, he was watching as the financial gifts were being put into the offering box at the rear of the temple. He saw many people giving that day, but it was one woman who got his attention.

There was a widow woman who put in an amount of money that was worth a fraction of a penny. Now you already know my love for pennies is real, but this woman put in an amount that I wouldn't even consider worth bending over to pick up. But watch what Jesus says about that.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on.

Jesus recognized that she gave her all - not the most - but her all. She didn't give thousands of dollars that day. She couldn't outgive anyone by the amount she could give. She didn't stress about that. She didn't take out a loan to compete. She didn't pick up extra hours on the job so she could match what everyone else was giving. She simply gave what she had. And not only that, she gave all that she had.

And as a result, Jesus responds in a way that is most peculiar. He uses it as a moment to celebrate, to teach his disciples something incredible. None of the others who gave that day got a nod from our Lord, but the one who gave it all did.

I think you can see what I'm getting at here. We chase the bigger, better thing. We try to out give and out do everyone. And in that pursuit, we may gain the respect and attention of men. But men aren't the audience we need. The one we need to care about having an audience with is the God of the Universe.

To honor Him, we don't have to be the best in the room or give more than anyone else. We simply need to give our all. 100% of ourselves. The whole sha-bang. There is truly nothing more peaceful than to know I don't have to get anything else, I don't have to be anyone else, and I don't have to out do anyone else. I just get to be myself, give all I have, and not worry about what anyone else does.

Isn't that freeing? The best I have to give is in my hands now. It is me. And God has given all of Himself to us in exchange. Now that is not just peaceful, it is something to be stinkin' joyful about!