They are Not You by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

            Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (Romans 14:1-4)

            Do you ever get frustrated when someone does not have the same passion as you do for your faith? Perhaps they are not willing to sacrifice as much as you are willing to sacrifice? We must remember that everyone’s calling is different.

            I was reminded of that when I read yesterday’s Jesus Calling entry: Each of My children is a unique blend of temperament, giftedness, and life experiences.  Something that is a baby step for you may be a giant step for another person, and vice versa….Do not judge others who hesitate, in trembling fear, before an act that would be easy for you.

            God has given me a drive to go where He wants me to go, do want He wants me to do, and speak about subject matters He gives me. I have the blessing of my family to move forward in this calling, which means time away from home, but it is not everyone’s mindset and it certainly was not my mindset a year and a half ago before my youngest son was able to drive.  God’s timing is perfect for each individual. We cannot expect those around us to have the same timing and the same call.

            This also applies to our spiritual growth. If someone is weaker in an area of spiritual maturity than we are, we cannot look down our nose at them.  In our Bible study yesterday we were talking about the verse in Matthew 6:33, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Someone in my small group asked if there is a list of God directives that we are supposed to obey to make this verse easier to accomplish. Can we just post them on the bathroom mirror and make sure we check them all off each day?  My reply was that God generally works on one area of our life at a time because if he did it all at once, it might be a bit overwhelming. The fancy word for this process is sanctification. We’re all being sanctified but not necessarily in the same areas or at the same time.

            When our children, our husbands, other family members or friends aren’t in the same place as we are spiritually or they don’t have a similar call, we must remember they are not us and we are told not to judge.  God’s blueprint for each of us is unique. There are areas where we are weak and another is strong and vice versa. Everything is in His perfect timing. We just need to run the race he has laid out for us, which includes turns and bends unique for us individually. The cool thing to remember is that we all have the same finish line. 

The Pearls of Promise team is trusting God to be our guide as we prepare for our retreat with Love Serve Shine Ministries, “It’s a Jungle Out There: Trusting God to Be Our Guide.” There is less than a week left to get the early bird rate of $99.99. To find out more information or to register on line go to http://www.christianwomensretreats.net.  Life is a jungle and we’d love for you to join us as we figure out ways to get through this life together..