You Don't Measure Up

Published on May 01, 2008 by Ryan Suzuki

Lately, I’ve struggled with feeling like I just don’t measure up.  I’m constantly comparing myself to other people and asking myself if I’m doing as well or better than them.  Is 20/20 as good as Omega?  Am I as funny as Joe? (The answer to that is of course, no).  We live in a world that prizes success above all else.  Good grades, six figure salaries, nice cars, and the hottest fashions theses are just some of the things that our society uses to measure “success” and I’ll bet that most of the time you do too.  Now, let me just say that doing your best at whatever you do is not bad and having money, good grades and cool clothes aren’t bad things.  It’s when we let these things be the driving forces in our lives that we get into trouble.  God has convicted me of this lately and I want to encourage you to take a different look at success with me.

There is a pastor I know whom the world might consider a failure.  He is by no means rich and he has been kicked out of a church or had a church split because he stood up for what is right and people were unwilling to follow.  This guy might never have success in the world’s way of seeing it, but I do know that he has success in God’s eyes.  Or how about another guy I know, Jesus.  Seriously, throughout His life people didn’t listen to Him, others outright rejecting Him, He was forsaken by His best friends, and finally He was put to death.  And while we know that Jesus will have complete victory and success in the end, I think we could argue that His time on earth wasn’t necessarily “successful.” 

And this brings us to what God has been teaching me on this particular subject and let me just say that this is a life long and incredibly difficult lesson to learn.  The example of my pastor friend and Jesus shows me that I have to take a more eternal perspective on my success.  I might not always have an awesome ministry like 20/20 or a great church like Neighborhood and he world might look at me and say that I’m a failure.  However, I know that I am doing what God has called me to and that should make all the difference.  Maybe you don’t feel like you measure up or that you’re not as successful as you think you should be.  Take a moment and try to look through the glasses of eternity and ask yourself, “Is what I am doing pleasing to God?”  If the answer is yes, then take heart and press on toward true success.  Since when is the world ever right anyway?