Looking Around

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    I don’t know about you but I look around a lot. I look around to see a cute outfit, how someone is parenting, what they are reading, how they are responding. I look around A LOT. I learn from observation and too many times people have caught me staring. (Sorry about that).

    There is a lot to learn from looking around and from watching. There is a lot to unlearn as well. This past Sunday I was reminded how the nation of Israel looked around as well. They looked around and rather than learning, growing, being thankful and trusting God, they demanded. They looked around and demanded that God serve them in certain ways, that He give them certain things and act like they wanted.

    If I am honest with myself, I realize I am much like the Israelites. I look around and say, “God, why won’t you do that?” or “God, I would like that.” Often God does not honor my requests and even if I am not grateful in the moment, I have opportunity to turn His response into gratitude.
   
    What about you? Do you look around?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Comparison and Discontent

**Sit quietly, relax and close your eyes for one minute before reading.**

    Comparison is often the root of our most discontent moments. We have compared ourselves to what someone has, what they look like, what we do not have or what we want. We compare our real life to what we think their life is like and immediately move to discontent.
    We look around and we wish, we wonder, we pout (at least I do) and we struggle as we spiral into discontent. Comparison can cause us to rise up and to improve. Comparison can also cause us to plummet out of control into discontent.
    Rather than comparison consider calling. Who is God calling you to be? Who is He calling you to be today? Who has He called you to serve today? Consider the present moment, consider that God has created you uniquely and given you experiences and purposes that are hand-crafted for you. As you focus on calling, consider how God is calling you to walk forward rather than get caught up in comparison.

If you have longer than two minutes read John 21:20-23 in the Bible and consider Jesus' response to Peter.

**Sit quietly again for as long as is available to you.**

Storing Up Joy

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Joy is a gift. To receive joy as a gift means that it is given to you, you do nothing for it other than ask for it receive it. God gives us the gift of joy.
    Joy is also a choice. To choose joy means that whatever your circumstances, you choose the posture of joy. One great way to do this is through thankfulness. To choose thankfulness leads to joy.
    What can steal our joy? What strips us of the gift? One great culprit is comparison. Comparing ourselves to another and cultivating the breeding grounds for bitterness and envy makes it pretty difficult to choose joy and even to receive it. Comparing our bodies, comparing our families, our homes, our spiritual lives, our cooking, our income, our gifts, … you get the picture. Comparison steals our joy and we have a choice whether to indulge comparison or not.
    How can you store up joy? What are you thankful for? How will you choose joy rather than comparison today? Do not forget to ask God for it as well. It is both a choice and a gift.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Internal Scoreboard

I'm changing it up a bit today. Here's a quote from one of my favorite author's and theologians.

“When we start by being too impressed by the results of our work, we slowly come to the erroneous conviction that life is one large scoreboard where someone is listing the points to measure our worth.  And before we are fully aware of it, we have sold our soul to the many grade-givers.  That means we are not only in the world, but also of the world.  Then we become what the world makes us.  We are intelligent because someone gives us a high grade.  We are helpful because someone says thanks.  We are likable because someone likes us.  And we are important because someone considers us indispensable. In short, we are worthwhile because we have successes.  When we cling to the results of our actions as our only way of self-identification, then we become possessive and defensive and tend to look at our fellow human beings more as enemies to be kept at a distance than as friends with whom we share the gifts of life.”  Henri Nouwen, Show Me the Way.

Do you keep an internal scoreboard, giving yourself points and measuring your worth? If so, how does this effect your relationships?

**Sit quietly for as much time as is available to you.**