I sat behind her that night at the awards ceremony. I'll never forget her. She sat erect. Back straight. Head held high. Hands clasped. With each name called I saw the longing. She sat in hopeful silence. Barely breathing she waited. An anxious and hopeful yearning written all across her appearance. Her hands sometimes fidgeted in nervousness and anticipation. Until the last name was called. She then stood with poise and refinement, leaving quickly. She had not received any recognition.
My heart ached for her as I remembered my own High School story. Effort unrewarded. Being second or third doesn't bring the acclaim. "Close" or "almost" won't win the medal. Students around her were acknowledged in various forms of the Arts, but all her best work wasn't good enough. Others were better in the field she was pursuing.
When others are promoted in the area of our specialty, how do we respond? It's hard to see another's impact and influence gaining and growing at the expense of our own. Outwardly we may congratulate with stoicism, hiding our emotions, but inwardly our hearts and minds are questioning our worth. Why wasn't it me? Why is it always the other person? How come I don't measure up? Doesn't anyone see all that I'm doing?
John the Baptist arrived on the scene as a forerunner of Christ. His birth story was miraculous. Jesus Himself says of him in Matthew 11:11, "I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist..." Can there be any higher credentials than the Son of God declaring such a statement over his life? Yet he was not first, nor would he ever be. His mission always was to give his all for the message of another.
It was while baptizing new believers one day when John's disciples came to him saying, "Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to Him instead of coming to us."
"Everybody" the superlative exaggeration of the envious. But honestly, don't we too respond this way? Feeling overlooked we erroneously emphasize another's impact and influence. They have everything. We have nothing. Neither statement is true. I love how John humbly and accurately reminds his disciples that everything we have is a gift from God. John knew who he was, and he knew who Jesus was. Although some of their ministry may have overlapped, Jesus was the Messiah and that made Him uniquely different. From this place of understanding John was spared bitterness and jealousy. Instead, he could genuinely rejoice when others left him to follow Christ. It was a win/win situation!
John's response was not only one of joy and celebration, but he laboured on. He continued in his calling knowing all he was doing was for the glory of another. There can be no ego, protection of position, competition or self-promotion. When God is our only real satisfaction, we can be successful whatever we do.
Father, I admit to sometimes being insecure about my place in Your Kingdom. Lord, I invite You to do a new work in my heart. Do not quickly release me from this lesson. Help me to genuinely rejoice when others are succeeding in the area of longing that is dearest to my heart, knowing that the smallest gesture done in service and honour to You is the greatest treasure of all.
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