Whose Race are You Running?
Recently, a dear friend (who was my first dance instructor!), posted the following on Instagram:
“Made a mistake of starting my day with Instagram and Facebook. Shopping in Beverly Hills, travelling in a fabulous spot, fun Holiday parties, nice cars, gorgeous clothes, hot looking people… then, I felt like crap… I thought “why do I feel like this?” I should be happy that everyone’s living such a great life!”
If you are on Social Media, you may have felt similar feelings, when…
A coworker announced a huge promotion.
A friend from high school just had their third baby.
A neighbor is celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
A cousin is vacationing in Europe for a month.
A family friend just bought a vacation home.
Another one was able to retire at 50.
You may find yourself feeling jealous because it seems like everyone in your feed is successful, happy, well-off, lucky, blessed, and so forth.
Let them run their race. You run your race.
Keep Hebrews 12:1 in mind, “.. let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
It didn’t say, “… run the race God has set before your neighbor or your best friend or your friends from High School.” No, God has a race, a course, a purpose specifically for you to run.
Why do you think they put blinders on horses when they run? They only want the horses focused on their lane, their race.
It’s so easy to feel inadequate – especially this time of year, when everyone is posting their holiday travel plans, decorations, traditions, and presents, and bragging about their families in holiday letters.
When you find yourself feeling this way, remember two things:
- Social media never shows you the full picture.
Most people don’t brag about their flaws or hardships on social media. They brag about the good times.
That coworker who got the huge promotion…maybe he or she worked 80 hours a week for the last 20 years and doesn’t have a family, or does have a family, but doesn’t have a good relationship with them.
That friend from high school who just had their third baby…maybe she’s suffering from post-partum depression or lost several pregnancies before welcoming a healthy baby.
That neighbor who is celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary…maybe they spent years in counseling working on that relationship…or maybe they’re not actually happily married.
You get the point.
Unless you know someone really well, you don’t know the full story or the obstacles they have overcome or are currently facing.
- You have nothing to prove.
God made YOU for a reason. You are good enough. In fact, you’re more than good enough. You have nothing to prove to others because you already have God’s approval.
Your value is rooted in who you are—the perfectly imperfect human being that God made—not what you do and the materialistic things that you collect during life on Earth.
So, don’t worry about comparing yourself to others. All you need to do is be the best that you can be and follow God’s plan for you.
Remember Psalm 139:14, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. You are perfectly imperfect because you were made by Him.
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