Weights

             Differing weights and differing measures— the Lord detests them both. (Proverbs  20:10)

          As I begin my protracted process of looking toward the next year and considering in what areas to focus, this is one of the kinds of verses that comes to mind. I’d rather begin with a passage I may get to tomorrow, but the first there’s some truth to be faced.

          The first truth is that I tend to expect one level of performance from myself, and another from others. I’ve sometimes said that if I am not as intelligent as DaVinci, Einstein, Shakespeare, Jefferson, and I’ll add Willard and MacGyver all put together, I’m a failure. If someone else is just a normal, everyday person of average ability, they can still be a success and probably are. And, there are also times when I grant myself the status of success when I am not doing half-so-well as someone else. At the very least, I forgive my dismal failures when I might declare another who does better as having failed. In short, I struggle as a Pharisee just like everyone else.

          As I seek a vision of what God wants to grow in my life in the next year(s), this is one of the key issues. God demands perfection, but His idea of perfection and mine undoubtedly differ. He probably isn’t nearly so interested in my “failure” to keep my kitchen perfectly clean as He is in my keeping my thought so. I’m more likely to be irritated by the kitchen. I suspect His does a better job of considering what’s perfect …for me…now than I do. After all, we don’t expect a kindergartener to compete with a collegiate, and while I might consider myself a collegiate, He may consider me a toddler.

            The questions I must ask are whether my weights are honest and whether I'm going to trust God that His are.

          Heavenly Father, guide me to select weights and measures that are honest, and calibrated to the weights and measures You have selected for me.