Hung Up

Hung Up…

　

     Have you ever been so hung up on someone else’s life that you couldn’t focus on your own. I don’t mean an obsession but rather just a small reoccurring voice that points out the little things that others do wrong or right, that rub up next to you in such a way that causes either judgment or comparison. If you answered no then listen up because I think we are very unaware of the fact that as we are in a state of constant comparison and judgment.

     We turn on the TV and chances are we find one extreme or the other; People royally screwing up and making us feel better about ourselves or people living the life we could only dream. Magazines are lined with comparison and marketing tools to make us want to be someone else. And then there is the internet. Pinterest is called the fantasy football of women because we can fantasize about cooking like a chef, dressing like a model, being more organized, taking amazing trips and so much more but it is literally a picture gallery of all the things I could be doing better. And if you aren‘t thoroughly convinced yet that our world specializes in comparison and judgment let‘s talk about Facebook; A site that specializes in being a platform for people to try to keep up with the Joneses.

     The point isn’t that social media is an onslaught of negative attention and a slippery slope for the battlefield of your mind it is that we are perhaps spending more time on the battlefield getting beat up than we are in the armory sharpening our weapons or in the infirmary getting healed.

    I am very aware of my tendencies towards judgment and comparison and yet I still get “Hung Up”. One such situation is from last night at church. I was waiting to be prayed for by someone with a very beautiful prophetic gifting. As I sat waiting I tried to pray, but my mind kept racing around in circles. What was God going to speak into my life about? Would it be an answer to one of the many questions I have for God? I sat and sorted through some of those questions and one had me very hung up because it was about someone close to me. I then asked God if the way they were living out their relationship with him was right or wrong and if he could tell me so that I could either do what they were doing or I could do my own thing and feel better about it. No answer. As my turn came and went I was given an amazing very personal and real insight into God’s plans for me. But no insight into the nagging question in the back of my mind. One thing that did happen though was that when God honed in on my life and got very specific about me, I didn’t care about comparing myself to others because in that moment I was very satisfied to be me.

     We rob ourselves of our destiny and God’s vision for our lives when we try to fit ourselves into other peoples lives. How very condescending of me to ask God if my brother and sisters in Christ are sinning so that I may be judge and jury. How very wrong of me to cling to the giftings and purposes of others when God has a hand full of that for me. We cannot take what God has gifted to us if our hands are full of other peoples stuff. The last Commandment given to the Israelites in Exodus 20:17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

     Coveting seems like a pretty mild sin in comparison to murder and stealing, we even water it down to the first part and say don’t lust after another man’s wife but the verse finishes out with not coveting “Anything else that belongs to your neighbor”

      I have played in this pool of coveting other peoples purpose. I have wanted God to gift me with other peoples giftings. But this is a sin. And it is probably the most unchecked sin running rampant in the church today. Instead of grabbing a hold with both hands what God has for us individually we are trying to balance in one hand our life and in another hand someone else’s. I don’t know any better way to let go of the stuff that doesn’t belong to us than to hold onto with both hands what God has given us. Last night God didn’t want to speak to me about someone else and whether or not what they are doing is for me or not, He wanted to speak to me about me.

     How do we let go of the things we so easily pick up when we are surrounded and bombarded at every turn? Paul talks about this to the Corinthians and the Philippians. We are to replace envy with Joy, be thankful when others do good in life or are blessed because God has done that for them. And replace judgment and worry for prayer and petition to God because those brothers and sisters need freedom and we can’t give it, only God can. Don’t try to fit through the door of other peoples destiny. Someone else’s blessing will be a curse if you take what does not belong to you. Someone else’s yoke does not fit. It would be a burden to carry someone else’s yoke, it would be too heavy or not heavy enough to plow the ground beneath, wasting time. We need to take upon us that which God has put before us. Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” He is speaking about what he gives to us, not what we take upon ourselves.

I fit through one door and instead of being sad that other doors are closed, rejoice for the door before you is beutiful and unique. God builds us each a special and unique destiny. He designs our purpose and our path like the master craftsman that he is. Each of us has an amazing story but if we keep trying to fit into someone else’s we are going to miss ours all together. Do not covet what your neighbor has, ask God what he has for you and hold on with both hands so that you can live a life that isn’t “Hung Up”.