John 21:22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

This is a very important Scripture. We are so prone to compare our-selves with others and our circumstances with those of others and get worked up over whether things are “fair” or not, when all of that is beside the point. We have to come back to what Jesus told Peter: “You, follow Me.” As Jesus had made very clear in the parable of the talents earlier in His ministry, what we start with isn’t the question, it’s what we do with what we’ve been given. If we get worked up over comparisons, we won’t be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us, and that’s a major problem. There is also a problem in the other direction, when those who have been entrusted with more think they are somehow superior to those who have been entrusted with less. (Actually, “more” and “less” are matters of human perception, and often are at variance with reality.) Each one of us needs to have our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is Lord of all, rather than looking around in comparison all the time.

I’ve had my own struggles with this issue, and I’ve certainly seen how corrosive it can be, with people leaving the church over it. We have such difficulty grasping that every gift carries responsibility, and every responsibility carries reward. It really does come down to a faith issue: whether we really trust God to be fair and to do what is best for us. Paul dealt with this issue in Romans 9, and various OT prophets dealt with it as well. As a pastor, I deal with it all the time! I need to help people understand that God’s smart and we aren’t, and that He really, really, really loves us and wants the very best for us. I think that last part is the biggest problem! We have such a distorted view of love that we don’t understand that discipline is part of it, that God loves us too much to just leave us alone. He doesn’t force us to turn to Him, but He gives us as many opportunities to do so as possible, and often we think He’s picking on us! I need both to remember and to communicate that everything God does is a reflection of His character, which is both love and holiness.

Father, thank You for being who You are, and for the privilege of communicating that to others. Help me grasp You more and more, and lead others to do likewise, so that together we may walk in the peace and joy of trusting obedience, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!