This morning I was doing my early morning swimming routine, when a ridiculous reality hit me. It probably happened because swimming a few kilometers gets the mind going. There’s nothing else to do but swim and think.
I came to the conclusion that comparing oneself to another is a dangerous practice. There were swimmers in the lanes on either side. The one guy was swimming at a pace that made me feel great. I was lapping him every few lengths and my confidence levels were rising. But the other guy made me look pedestrian. And that dropped my confidence level to such an extent that I felt like taking up running again.
You see, we all have dreams and aspirations in life. We also all have gifts and talents given to us by our Heavenly Father. In order to pursue what God is calling us to do, we can’t begin to feel inadequate because of the success of others. If God is calling me to preach, I can’t listen to Steve Furtick or Judah Smith and walk away from my calling, feeling that I could never measure up. When God calls us, we need to put blinkers on and stop focusing on the other horses in the race.
There will always be someone that has achieved great things in the area that God is calling you to. If we keep comparing ourselves to them, we are going to miss out on our calling and always wonder what the Promised Land would have been like. Every person who is at the top of their game was facing the same prospect of competition when they began. The three steps to success in your calling are:
- Stop comparing yourself
- Take the first step
- Perseverance
In order to take the 1st step, we need to stop seeing our calling as a competition with someone else. Only then will we be bold enough to step out of the boat onto unknown waters. Every step from there on will require faith in Our Father and focus on our calling. Because only by implementing those 2 things, will we be capable of persevering to the place where God says, ” Well done My good and faithful servant”.
Have an amazing day knowing that God isn’t interested in how you compare to others. He is interested in YOU and YOUR calling.
Mark Davidson
