Excuse me what’s on your plate?

 

Each time at the dinner table with my boys, I realize my youngest always reaches out for my plate even though it’s the same menu we have. It always seems to kids that maybe somehow your food is better, isn’t this ironic? However eventually when they grow and start to mature they start to accept what is on their own plate, even if the contents in our plate of food might differ. Many times, however, my oldest son would protest and want what I am eating. My oldest son is sensitive to some foods so I cannot give him everything he might want to try for his own safety. At his age, however, he is not old enough to understand why he can’t have it.

When I was thinking about these two kiddie stages I realized that God was showing me something. That even to adulthood, we go through stages where we want what is on someone else’s plate because for some reason what is on their plate looks better than what is on our plate. And sometimes we might be content with what we have on our own plate, but want to try what is in someone else’s; without realizing whether we are capable of handling the contents. It takes maturity and accepting that what we have is what we need. So often we fall into the trap believing that someone else’s life is better than ours or just believing that if you had what they have you will be happier. You are not here to live someone else’s life, you are here to live your own life and fulfil your Godly calling. A lot of times when we start wanting what others have, we forget to think about how they got there in the first place. The grass is never greener on the other side the grass is greener where you water it.

Always remember that God has called you to be unique and different. Take the body, for example, it has different parts and different organs that function differently to achieve the same purpose and goal. Imagine then if the human body was made up of one leg nothing else everything was a leg, how then would the body function? No matter how small of a job a part of the body has it is still very important. Falling into the comparison trap can be easy when you lose focus on God and start looking at others. In 2 Corinthians 10:12 Paul speaks to the Corinth church about measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves and how these actions are foolish. In Galatians 6:4-5 says ‘each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your own accomplishments without comparing yourself to others. Assume your own responsibility’.

Strive to be different, strive to be unique. Never want to be someone else. The only competition and comparison you should be doing are between the current you and Gods version of you. We are all going to go through seasons in life where we will bloom and where we will not. Don’t get me wrong just because you are not in your harvest season that doesn’t mean you are insignificant or God has forgotten about you. In each season of our life, God uses to minister to us and make us better. In your silent seasons, God wants you to get closer to him and just fellowship with him as he reveals things in your life that might need improving and trashing. He also uses these seasons to prepare you for the next season. A farmer doesn’t always harvest he has to prepare the ground, sow the seeds, make sure they are well-watered, remove weeds and so on to expect a great harvest with beautiful crops. There are weeds in our lives that God wants to remove.
So when you are looking at someone’s stake and fries while you are eating beans. Always have it in mind that they might have had their own share of beans.

God bless you.

Lisa Maxwell