Right Where You Are Supposed to Be

“LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.” (Ps 131:1 AV)

This psalm is not intended to discourage attainment or success.  There is no absolute benchmark that applies to all here.  In other words, what is wrong for one may not be for another.  One may work toward a goal or stature in life and be perfectly right with God in doing so.  While another, whose ambition is unbridled, may seek the same stature and be out of the will of God in doing so.  The key is the two verses that follow.  David was where he was supposed to be because, as a weaned child, was content in his dependency upon God and in verse three, he did not lose faith in God.  Or, putting it another way, his faith was in God and not in himself.  David was king!  He was king of God’s people.  There was nothing greater anyone could attain.  He was honored above his fellows.  He sought things that were too high for him in Goliath, a lion, a bear, and Saul.  With God, they were not.  With him alone, they were.   Again, the person that you are will determine the person you are supposed to be.  If self-sufficiency and ambition are your traits, then you are prone to have lofty eyes that exercise themselves in things too high or too great for them.  However, if you can keep a contented and humble spirit all the while trusting in the LORD for the calling at hand, then you must be in the will of God.

Our human nature desires to grow.  This means pushing ourselves in ways that result in that growth.  We want to be further down the road and accomplish more than we did in the past.  Our human propensity for competition drives us toward accomplishment.  We strive for the master.  We want that first-place trophy.  We want to be the head of the class.  We want accolades above our peers so we can have a sense of self-worth.  We have to be unique.  We have to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.  It doesn’t take long before we figure out we cannot be the best at most that we try.  I have a brother who was constantly competing against me.  If I tried something, he had to try it, too.  The problem was, no matter what I tried, he always exceeded where I was merely average.  After years of trying to find that one special skill that no one else could match, you come to the conclusion you are not all that special.  At least not any more special than anyone else.   Every young person goes through the same self-evaluation.  Teen depression can sometimes be traced back to this struggle to find Self.  The whole teen experience can be summed up in the verse above.  It is a learning curve of what is too high or lofty an ambition that it cannot be successfully pursued.

God made us and not we ourselves.  He knows what part in life we are to play.  He is the master builder.  He is the creator.  He is the one who has the entire human race in perfect balance so that we accomplish His perfect will.  He knows how and why He designed us.  To be less or more than He intended is to bring great harm to Him, us, or both.  Knowing our place and being content in that place is the point here.  David, because of what God called him to do, concerned himself with great matters.  These great matters were not great for him.  Because he was able to keep a child-like spirit and never become self-sufficient, he was exactly where he was supposed to be.  It isn’t the measure of the calling of a man that makes the man.  It is his attitude and faith while discharging that calling that makes the man.