IImagine, if you would, you just walked in on the conversation God was having with me the other night. I was discouraged, but God wasn’t having it. Every time He would compliment me, I had my reasons on why that couldn’t be the Holy Spirit. “God would never feel that way about me,” I thought. “He’s much too perfect.”
“I know you don’t think very highly of yourself, but would it kill you if I did?”
“It’s just I don’t get it, God… I can’t run fast like James, or throw a rock like Jimmy.”
…
“I guess I could have said throw a rock like David, I guess that would have made more sense.”
“It made perfect sense… but why did you say ‘Jimmy’? Why didn’t you compare yourself to the great people of faith in the Bible when you were saying all the people you don’t feel like you stack up against?”
“I guess God because I feel like whether we are David from the Bible throwing the rock, or Jimmy down the street throwing it, we are all just ‘material’. No matter who we are, at our very base nature, we are no more than blank canvases for You to paint upon. How beautiful or great we are is an expression of whether or not you have created us for honor, more than something great we have accomplished in our strength.”
“That may be true, but you left out something very important.”
“What’s that God?”
“Freedom of expression… Human reason… triumphs… struggles against what is unholy. What makes someone beloved and blessed is not how much they are gifted, but how much they try.”
I wept briefly. Somehow I could see myself in God’s Special Olympics, finishing the race against incredible odds. I had been looking at this all wrong. I was deluded in thinking the medal went to the brave, to the strong, and to the athletic.
The first shall be last and last, first. I understood it better now. No one in their right mind would look at a race between an Olympic gold medal runner and a person who limps on one leg and say, “Man, that guy is a loser! He should just get out of the race!” But what do we tend to tell ourselves when we see the world around us? Are we outperformed, outgunned, and outmatched? Maybe God is choosing to express Himself differently in their lives, but that doesn’t mean He made a mistake with us!
So what about the Olympics runner? Is it even possible to win? He could cross the tape miles ahead of the handicapped person, but he wouldn’t “win” the race. All eyes would instead be transfixed on the disabled person; the person behind everyone, conquering all odds, and still finishing the race.
Hey, here’s a way he can win… He could be less concerned with the medal, and go back and help the other runner over the finish line. Sometimes, I feel like I want to win that race. In other areas of my life, I’m bringing up the rear. But what we can take away from all of this is a strong sense of community in the body of Christ. I need to remind myself when I get haughty, and encourage myself when I get discouraged of the same truth that brings us all together in unity…
For…
God knew what He was doing when he made you. What you consider a fault doesn’t mean God sees it that way. Some of the most debilitating things in my life have been amazing opportunities for God’s glory. Jesus even says in the book of John chapter 7, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
