One of the most
frustrating things that I do in life is to compare myself, my talents and even
everything I own to that of others. What
I usually find is that me and mine rarely measure up to theirs. You know the grass is always greener on the
other side.
Can you see what I get
caught up in here? I have a problem with
“keeping score” on life. I’m constantly
comparing what I have and do with others of my choosing. With some, I end up the winner. With others, I come out the looser. This scorekeeping on life usually ends up
with the dual failures of arrogance (for the winners) and discouragement (for
the losers). Both are contrary to what
God desires for our lives.
The biggest problem with
keeping score in life is that there are forces and blessings out there that we
can’t see. God has things in place in
our favor that we can’t comprehend. And
when we are caught up in keeping score in life, these countless blessings and
talents and abilities usually end up not being counted or considered. The score we get, then, is totally distorted
(check out 2 Kings 6:16-17).
One of the “scorekeepers”
mentioned in the Bible is the prophet Elijah.
He told the prophets of Baal and Asherah that they numbered in the
hundreds and he was “the only one” (1
Kings 18:22). But Elijah’s score was
wrong on two counts!
1.
He had
just heard from Obadiah that there were 100 prophets being hidden in caves and
provided for. He wasn't the only
one!
2.
And when
Jezebel took out a contract on his life, the score seemed so stacked against
him that he ran away and asked God to end it all. Only after his encounter with the true nature
of God did he find out that there were 7000 faithful people that were still on
His side (1 Kings 19:18). He wasn’t the
only one!
Why didn’t Elijah notice
these 7,101 others? Why did he think
that he was the “only one”? Because he
was so busy keeping score that he fell victim to Satan’s weapons. He was so absorbed with his own personal
issues that he was blinded to the conditions of others. Scorekeepers are always in danger of
distorting the truth and being discouraged.
Do you know some
“scorekeepers” in your life? Are you
one? Has Satan had a field day causing
you to be distracted and tempting you to distort the real score? Just keep in mind two things when you are
tempted to keep score in life.
- God is a scorekeeper too. The good thing about that is that He knows the correct score and He always comes out on top so stay on His team and don’t quit.
- And remember a quotation attributed to Andrew Jackson: “One man with God is the majority.” Consider that truth whenever the odds seem to be against you.
Doug
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