The grass isn’t always greener, but comparison distracts us from seeing God’s goodness in our own lives. It’s possible that God is at work, but you’re just turned in the wrong direction. So where are you looking? Pastor Jen DeWeerdt shares a powerful message that gets us focused on the right things so we don’t miss out!
Notes 📓✏️:
A Near Miss – Pastor Jen DeWeerdt
Psalm 73:1-10 (MSG): “No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing His goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world. Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. They’re full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. People actually listen to them—can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.”
Looking
Comparison
Envy
Discontentment
Distorted view of God
1. Each other.
Comparison is the thief of Joy.
2. Expectations.
Psalm 73:11-14 (MSG): “What’s going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody’s tending the store. The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches. I’ve been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that’s what—a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.”
Psalm 73:15-20 (MSG): “If I’d have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children. Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: The slippery road you’ve put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare! We wake up and rub our eyes…nothing. There’s nothing to them. And there never was.”
1. Watch what you speak.
Psalm 73:15 (NASB) “If I had said, “I will speak this way,” Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
2. Enter the House of God.
3. See the end, not just the now.
Psalm 90:12 (NIV): “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 73:25,26,28 (NIV): “Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! But as for me, it is good to be near God: I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds!”
Discussion Questions 📝❓:
- Why is it dangerous to fall into the trap of comparison?
- How can wrong expectations make it more difficult to guard against comparison?
- When and how do we give life to our frustrations and feelings of disappointment?
- When we are weary, how and where can we find the new strength needed to see our situation from God’s perspective?