Records Don’t Stand

You will never always be the best. Any record you hold will eventually be broken. That’s a fact of life. No matter how hard you try, there will always be someone who comes along who will be better than you. Live with it.

No matter how good your voice is, there is always someone who can sing better. No matter how far you can throw a javelin, someone will eventually come along who can throw it further. You might be at the top of the charts one week, but can’t get in the top 100 the next month.

We need to learn to be grateful for what God has given us. Use our fruits and talents to show God’s glory. And when someone else comes along to take our place, congratulate them. Show them respect.

Unfortunately most people don’t do this. Just like Saul with David, people hate to lose. They want to be number one and to stay that way. Saul had the respect of the people. Unfortunately, they liked David more. Saul’s jealousy eventually led him to try to kill David. 1 Samuel 18:8-9 reads, …He said to himself, “They are saying David has killed tens of thousands of men. But they are saying I’ve killed only thousands. The only thing left for him to get is the kingdom itself.” From that time on, Saul became very jealous of David. So he watched him closely.

 Saul allowed what others were saying to get into his gut and burn at him. Eventually it would cost him his kingdom.

We see this all the time. Remember when Michael Phelps won all those Olympic medals? Someone interviewed Mark Spitz, the prior leader in medal wins. He gave excuses why Phelps was able to win in order to try to keep some of his own accolades. What Spitz should have said was “He’s an amazing young man, and we should all be proud.” Imagine how much more people would have admired him. Instead he whined and lost some of that prestige he’d had.

It happened again this past week. The headline read that Joe Montana had some bad things to say about the current San Francisco quarterback. The headline could have been just to get readers to read. I have a hard time believing Joe Montana would say anything cruel about anyone. So I chose not to read it. I didn’t want to find out that one of the people I’ve always respected is actually human. It hurts when your hero drops from their pedestal.

I love it when someone gets a good writing contract. I think it’s awesome. I love it when they win awards. Of course, I wish it were me at times, but I’m not upset they were given the blessing over me. I know God has plans for me. It might never be to become number one on the New York Times bestselling list. But if it is, I know someone will eventually come along and knock me out of the top spot. I just have to do what God has prepared me to do, and to show encouragement to others who are blessed as well.

If we don’t, God might eventually take our kingdom, like he did Saul’s.