Do You Need a New Measuring Stick?

PONDERINGS  MARCH 25, 2014

Do You Need a New Measuring Stick?

I have to admit that I am not one to need a measuring stick for too many things. When I hang a picture I tend to “eyeball” it and said, “Oh I think it is straight”! I am not a “DIY” person so I don’t have a need for one for “do it yourself projects”. I don’t sew so I don’t need one to measure fabric. In reality, I don’t use a measuring stick very often. I have been known to use one to help me get something from a shelf I could not reach! I have several at my house for when my family or friends come and they do projects for me so they can be accurate.

However, when I begin to think about how I measure my life experiences, I wonder if I need a New Measuring Stick!  What do I use when I measure my self-worth, my attitude, my daily life, and what the future holds.

When we begin to measure our self-worth we often tend to use the measuring stick of “fear” when we look at ourselves. We spend time fearful of what people are thinking about us. We often find that we try to become what we think others want us to be rather than who we really are. We often use that “fear” stick when we look at how God thinks of us and we often feel unworthy of His love and grace.

The measuring stick of self-worth should be one that recognizes our uniqueness and how we were wonderfully and fearfully made.  The Psalmist expressed his self-worth in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. When we use this as our measuring stick, we no longer have need of the “fear” stick of what people think or how God feels about us.

The measuring stick for attitude is decided by each person.  Life is not always like an easy Merry Go Round ride. More often than not it is Roller Coaster ride. I can remember my dad saying, “when you are in the valley, and you climb back to the top one thing you will notice: the valley was not as low as the last time and the mountain top is a little higher than the last time.” We need to keep climbing knowing God will always help us not go as low as we have been and will help us reach new heights of life through choosing a positive attitude.

The measuring stick for our attitude should be one that does not measure the WHY of our circumstances but HOW we respond to our circumstances.  The following quote perhaps could serve as a reminder of the kind of measuring stick we need, “The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.” Dennis S. Brown

The measuring stick looking at life situations, often is one that will use the past as a measuring stick instead of looking at the present.  There is not one person who has not had something tragic or bad happen to them. It could be a loss of a job you think was unfair, the loss of a spouse through divorce, loss of a child through death, your child chooses drugs or a lifestyle that is not what you would want for them, the list could go on and on with different unfair situations in life.

Using the measuring stick of “things are unfair” leads to the development of a lack of trust in people and God. A lack of trust in someone else loving you because you were hurt, not trusting your boss because you have been mistreated by another boss, becoming an overprotected parent to your children because you had the loss of a child, a fear of trusting your child again because they may disappoint again, and if God really loved me He would not allow these things to happen.

In order to overcome this we must recognize that our past is the past and we have to live in the today.  This quote is a wonderful attitude to adopt for living in the here and now.  “Fear not for the future, weep not for the past” Author unknown Words of hope and comfort are found in the words of Jeremiah, “And there is hope for your future,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:17

The measuring stick for the future is often; ”What is going to happen next?” as if it could not possibly be anything positive.  Using this measuring stick, the prediction will not be positive.

We may need a new measuring stick of “Hope”. The following quote from Henry Ward Beecher might describe this kind of measuring stick: “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith and hope.”  The choice is left up to us to decide which handle we pick up.

The Psalmist in Psalms 31:24 gives instructions for those needing hope. “Be strong take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.” 

 Do you need a new measuring stick?  Just remember: “If the sky falls, hold up your hands.”  Author Unknown