Don’t Compare Your Walk to Someone Else’s + “Now and Then”
Now + Then.
Thinking so much of what I DON’T KNOW…of what I DON’T SEE when meeting, dealing with and interacting with other people…thinking of the things that others may say…
“You see me now, but you don’t know…
You see my hostility to the gospel…
You see me holding a sign with opposing political views…
You see me “put together,” driving a BMW or Tesla…
You see the despair in my eyes and the hopelessness etched on my face…
You see me laughing and holding the cocktail, “having fun…”
You see me racing through my life, busy, busy, busy, hoping to forget the past and ignore the panic of the future…
You see me with a “smile…”
You see me with a cigarette…
You see me sitting on the chair next to you at church, and you hear me sing…
You see my “right now…” BUT… you don’t know…
You don’t know that I was molested for years as a child…
You don’t know that I’m falling apart inside, questioning if there’s any larger meaning to life, wondering if there’s any purpose in all this pain.
You don’t know that I lost my daughter five years ago, and my heart feels like it will never recover.
You don’t know that my dad ‘walked out’ when I was 10.
You don’t know that I’m wrestling feeling alone, abandoned, and unlovable.
You don’t know that I’ve thought about ending it all.
You don’t know that I’m in the darkest, lowest time of my life.
You don’t know that I’ve been praying for a ray of hope.
You don’t know the crazy path that led to this addiction…. never thought it would lead here.
You see my “right now” but don’t know how I got here, and you don’t know what God can do with my “right now…”
You don’t know that YOU are the answer to my prayer for a ray of hope.
You don’t know that this pain is simply preparation…
You don’t know that 10 years from now, on the other side of this “now,” I’ll be a preacher of truth…
You don’t know that God is going to heal the broken places of my soul that I had long thought irreparable…
You don’t know the glory God is gong to get out of my “now…”
You don’t know that my addiction, my issues, my struggles, my dark night are gong to turn around for the good of others and God’s eternal purpose.
You see my now, but you don’t know what the power of God can do in my future.
Let this be a reminder to me to never render a verdict on a person because of what I see in the moment. (Oh, yes…” judge righteous judgement…” There are observations to be made by the FRUIT of a person’s life, but never discount the power of the grace of God to change and redirect and transform a “now” into a “then.”) I don’t’ know HOW you got to your “now,” but I also don’t know HOW God can weave you now into an incredible future. Don’t judge a whole life by this moment…or by a season.
Abraham…I see you coming out of Hagar’s tent, but this “now” will not stop God from fashioning you into the “Father of the Faithful.”
Jacob…I see you deceiving…wrestling…running…but this “now” will not disqualify you from fathering the 12 tribes of Israel. It won’t keep God from changing your name.
Joseph, I see you in a dungeon, alone, forgotten…but the “now” of an underserved prison sentence will not stop the dream God gave you from being fulfilled. It will not hinder you leading a world super-power.
Sampson…I see the “now” of your head on Delilah’s lap, but this life of failure cannot stop you from “going out” as a man of faith.
David, I see you leering from the palace roof… I see you slip that death sentence into Uriah’s hand…but this “now” will not define you. This “now” will not determine God’s opinion of you. He will still call you a man after His own heart.
Esther, I see that you were orphaned and raised far away from home. I know the ache in your heart must have been great, but the “now” of your story doesn’t stop the fact that you were “brought to the kingdom for such a time as this.”
Mary Magdalene…or the unnamed “woman of the city, which was a sinner,” (Luke 7:37) …I see your “line of work,” I see your reputation, but your “now” will not stop your worship from being a memorial. It will not stop your story from always being told. Your worship from your “now” has eternal ramification.
Peter, I see you sinking…I hear you cursing and denying…but your “now” cannot delete your call. Your “now” did not stop you from preaching the first Apostolic message of all time, or from seeing the first outpouring of the Spirit.
Saul, I see you holding those coats. I see you “breathing out threatenings and slaughters,” but your “now” will not deter God from using you as a “chosen vessel.” It won’t stop Him from changing your name and revolutionizing your future. It won’t keep you from writing much of the New Testament. It won’t hinder the influence of your ministry throughout the centuries. Rather, the weakness and dependence produced by these “nows” will fuel the impact of your life. “Saul” will not keep you from becoming “Paul.”
Job, I see you sitting in dust and ashes. I see you reduced to nothing in the wake of devastating loss, but your “now” will allow a double portion then. Your “now” will be the very thing that God uses to impact the untold masses who will read of your trial in His Word. Your “now” will see you say “Blessed be the name of the Lord,” and “I know my Redeemer lives.”
John, I see you on the isle of Patmos…abandoned…exiled…forgotten. But this “now” cannot blind you to greater Revelation of Him. It will not keep you from seeing new dimensions of God and from a deeper knowledge of the unfolding events of time in the expanse of eternity.
No “now” can stop the plans and purpose of God. No “now” has to be the end. Your “now” will become a “then.”
Disclaimer: This does not mean “live in sin and expect God to engineer some happy ending.” Unrepentant sin, a lifestyle of sin, will only lead to destruction, consequences, and to divine judgement here or in eternity.
What I am saying is that no dark night, no trial, no failure, no season of heartbreak has the ability to determine your future. God can take the wildest, weirdest, most painful seasons of our lives and transform and revolutionize them into something we’d never dream. No “now” has ever limited Him! When our “nows” are surrendered, He makes them “thens.” We must put our “nows” at His feet and walk in humility, repentance, and acceptance.