Day 9: Rest from the Present

Can I get an hallelujah for swimsuit season?

No, never. I never get an hallelujah for swimsuit season. You won’t give me one because of your thighs.

“No, not my thighs,” you say. “Her thighs. It’s her thighs. They make my thighs feel lesser.”

And by that you mean “bigger,” thanks to our “more is lesser” body culture.

Let’s try again.

How about an hallelujah for “taking kids to public places?” Now, I’m getting some cheers, but it’s only those of you with little girls. Typical.

Any high fives for Instagram feeds?!?!?!

And, we’re back to silence.

After we put the stories of our past to rest, we have today’s story to contend with, and nothing keeps us restless like comparison. You know, comparison, which Webster defines as … eh, we don’t need Webster to describe that sensation of looking sideways and feeling small.

As with the guilty stories of our past, the comparison stories of our present are not what Jesus has for us today. Check out this verse from Galatians 6:4-5.

Each one should test her own actions. Then she can take pride in herself, without comparing herself to somebody else, for each one should carry her own load.

I still remember reading this verse for the first time, and it was such a revelation. So often, we (me) complain that the Bible doesn’t speak to our current problems, but here was this verse, so direct in stating the problem and so non-negotiable in the solution. It opened my eyes to the under-currents I’d felt as the younger sister to the smart older sister, as the friend to the pretty girl, as the new Christian to the Sunday Schoolers, as the stay-at-home mom to the working moms, as the self-published author to the authors under contract, as the (your turn for a descriptor!) to the (your comparative) …

Is someone else’s business my business today? Nope. Actually, I should be too busy about my business to bother with what someone else is doing, unless of course I’m looking sideways to help her out. Do you know what isn’t helpful, ever? Comparing. Envying another’s load. Trying to prove something. Judging how another is carrying her load.

Galatians 6:4-5 tells me I don’t have anything to prove and more than that, I can take pride in how I’m doing with what I’ve been given. Obedience is sufficient for today.

It is finished. It is good.

We can say “enough” today. We can smile over what we accomplished. There’s rest in the sufficiency of a job accepted and a job well done. I hope you’re emboldened to get to it.

Tell me … how does Galatians 6:4-5 encourage you to carry your load today? How could you spread a little Galatians 6:4-5 to help another woman as she carries her load today?

We’re talking rest right now on the blog – what it is, why we need it, and how we get it. If you just jumped in, go to Post 1 to catch up. Sign up for the blogs to go straight to your Inbox so you don’t miss any!