John 3:27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
When I pick up a book, it’s always interesting to me to see various affirmations on the first pages from people recommending it as a good read. Some authors include pages of statements acknowledging the value of the work, others one or two assertions. It seems like a metaphor on life. Some people’s lives brim with glowing accolades. If they were a book, those front pages would comprise a novel in and of itself. But for most of us, we feel fortunate to contain a paragraph.
The other day I experienced one of those “I’m just a paragraph” moments. It happened because I started comparing myself to someone else. Before I knew it, my thoughts had fast-tracked into all the areas where I feel I don’t measure up.
Thankfully, God doesn’t view me—or you—that way. He portions to each of us the amount of grace we need to live our stories. And to live them with great success.
When John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Judean countryside, his disciples approached him with alarming news. Jesus’ disciples had started baptizing people and everyone was going to him. The new kids on the block were taking over! John’s response indicates what made him the greatest born of woman (Luke 7:28). “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.” He was doing exactly what God called him to do. He decreased so Jesus could increase.
A few years ago I had a student in my Public Speaking class with an unusually high-pitched squeaky voice. At the beginning of the semester I wondered how he would make it with such an annoying vocal quality. But as the term progressed, he proved to be one of the most effective speakers in the class. He had the ability to think out of the box, and he used it to develop some of the most creative speeches I had ever heard. What he did well overshadowed a limitation he could do nothing about.
The Apostle Paul said, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). So are you. So am I. Let’s use that grace to make the most of it. Even if it’s just a paragraph.