“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
(Philippians 4:13, NASB95)
For the past several days I have been working through Jesus’
“blessed are” statements in Matthew chapter 5, but today I am taking a break
for an attitude check.
Words are powerful things, especially when people use them
to speak of or describe others. Their meanings and the impact of them, while
being used by one person, really find their impact in the heart and mind of the
hearer. In this there is much room for building up, tearing down, and
miscommunicating.
Our culture is one of comparative ratings. If we go to a
store we find our receipts opportunities to get some kind of a discount, win a
prize, or even receive something if we simply take the time to complete a
satisfaction survey. Most common in them is a five point assessment along the
lines of “very satisfied”, “satisfied”, “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied”, “dissatisfied”,
or “very dissatisfied”. We find questions such as, “How likely are you to
recommend this store or this product to a friend?” And the response choices are
given to us on a similar scale.
We are a people who compare, and make value assessments
based upon those comparisons. These comparisons can even be personalized in
regard to things such as our looks, health, competency, quality of our work, and
how much we are liked or appreciated. In this way our scale might look like “great”,
“good”, “okay”, “not so good” and “bad”. And when we are anything other than “very
good” then we can begin to question what’s wrong.
While these measurements may be commonplace and even applied
on a regular basis in the making of decisions, they can also become very dark
traps. These traps can snap closed on us when we don’t measure up to the
standard of someone we value, including even ourselves. We can become
self-critical. They can snap in when someone else gets selected for a job, and
you get left behind wondering what made them so much better. They can snap
closed when someone responds to something we have said or done with a measuring
word lower on our scale than we anticipated. All of these traps snapping closed
might be signs that we find our value and acceptance in the approval of others.
At a minimum, they indicate a spiritual struggle over which we need to step
back and look to our God who fully accepts us and who has promised to complete
the work in us that He started.
There are many words that can trigger negative responses in
our hearts. One of them amazingly enough is the word, “good.” On the
comparative scale above “good” is next to the top. But have we become so
accustomed to wanting to be “great” or “very good” that in some settings “good”
is not good enough. As I thought about this word I thought about our God and
His creation.
In Genesis 1 we read that God saw the light He created and
it was good. He created the expanse in the midst of the waters and the dry land
and heaven and sea and He saw that it was good. He created vegetation and it
was good. He created the sun, moon, and stars and He saw that they were good. Then
He created the sea creatures and the winged birds and they were good. Next we
read that he created the land creatures and they also were good. It was at this
point that God then created man in His own image, or as Scripture says, “Then
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let
them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the
cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” (Genesis 1:26, NASB95) Our Triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit) chose
to make man, male and female, and place them in this fully created “good” place.
In response to this we read, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was
very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
(Genesis 1:31, NASB95)
God’s creation was perfect, exactly as He intended and as He
looked upon it He saw that it was “good.” In this light “good” is a powerful
word. But even in this there was something missing, and that was man. When God
created man and added him to His creation He looked upon all of it and it was
then “very good.” Today, as we live in a world racked with sin, hurt, destruction,
and disease we are daily reminded that there is something better. What was once
very good, oftentimes now is not even close to good, and we long for the
better. And when we personally struggle with this comparative scale of good we
are reminded of how short we or things come.
In Romans 3 we read, “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;” … “for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:10, 23, NASB95) We know in our
hearts that we have fallen short. But our God turns that which is bad into that
which is good.
In this world we continue to struggle, but if we have
trusted Christ for our salvation, we are not to struggle as those who have no
hope (Romans 8:23-25), but as those who have been saved and made righteous in
Christ. Sure, we realize what lies ahead in heaven is perfect, but for now God
is in the process of conforming us to the image of His Son, and in this He is
doing a good work in us. “And we know that God causes all things to work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to
His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NASB95) In this we can also know that God’s good is
far and above any great that the world might have to offer. And in this we can
give ourselves back to God, submitting ourselves to Him to change and direct
our lives. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NASB95)
Another one of those comparative words is “adequate.” This
word is usually seen as the middle word on our scales, the one that is equal to
“okay.” We often view it as neither most desired or most detested, but as
something that will meet the need and serve the purpose. But even this word is
easily twisted. In our desire for the best we struggle with that which is seen
as less. In the job market, employers hold out for the employee who excels and
not the one who will get the job done. When we make a special dinner, certain
things which would normally suffice just don’t seem adequate for the occasion.
In many ways we view “adequate” as being on some kind of thin line between not
working at all.
But this also, is not in line with how God measures things.
The first verses that came to my mind in relation to this were 2 Timothy 3:16-17,
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, NASB95) Notice how
the good work God intends for us is tied to Him making us adequate to
accomplish it. In the English Standard Version “adequate” is translated as “complete,”
and the Greek word behind both has the added meaning of being specially fitted
or being given a special aptitude in order to meet the situation. In relation
to God’s inspired word we are given what we need to do what God intends. Of
course, there is a tie here, and that tie is hiding His Word in our hearts and
allowing it to shape us such that we are enabled to walk in righteousness. Becoming
adequate requires training, but God is committed to training us. The bottom
line is that when God makes us adequate for His work He removes any concept
that in Him we are then inadequate.
“Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that
we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but
our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new
covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the
Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4–6, NASB95)
The last one for today is “Jack of all trades.” I’ve long
thought I was this kind of person, realizing that I am very capable in many
areas, but in this I have often wondered if there was anything that I was
really good at. This can be a dangerous trap, especially if you have a history
of comparing yourself to others which I did as a teenager, and which I am
still not immune from even today as I am searching out God’s leading for where
we are to serve. A “jack of all trades” is a good person to have around because
he is adequate to do most anything, but is he the first person you pick when you
are looking for a specific expertise?
We are all naturally talented, developed in skills, and
gifted in different ways, and God uses the entirety of our individual wiring
for His purposes. Falling into the comparative trap of measuring ourselves
against others as opposed to submitting to God’s will for our lives with all of
our various strengths and even weaknesses is sometimes simple to do. But in
this we again have to stop and get our God perspective right. God knows exactly
what He intends for each and every one of us, and what we see of this is sometimes
only a small picture. We have seasons when God unfolds things before us and we
see, but we also have seasons when we have to walk in uncertainty trusting that
what we don’t see and can’t control are firmly held in our God’s hands.
Many years ago, I switched out the common phrase “Jack of
all trades and master of none” to “Jack of all trades and grateful for the
Master’s Son.” For in this new phrase I am reminded of my great hope, one that
is not based on my shortcomings but upon the unlimited ability of my God who
makes me adequate for His good work.”
Be Attitude Check 1: “I can do all things through Him who
strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13, NASB95)
If you are struggling in some way today concerning your
personal value or the judgment others might have of you, won’t you please step
back and look to our God and what He has to say both about who we are in Him
and about how He promises to work.
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