We Can Do More Than Just Survive

Evaluation is a very good thing in life. But sometimes we may be evaluating ourselves with a standard that is far too low so that it is easier to achieve our goals. I was thinking about that truth this morning because one of my goals during my six month furlough is growth. Part of this involves looking at what I did well during the first term of service in Australia. And more importantly it means finding what I could do better.

An important part of evaluation is to have a standard which you measure yourself with. A standard can be made up of things like Scripture passages, Bible Characters, family members, friends, or mentors. From time to time we will then check how we measure up to those standards. If there is room for improvement then it will motivate us to put forth more effort. And if we are currently living up to the standards set then there is little need for growth.

But what if our standards are set too low? Is it possible to live our whole lives trying to accomplish certain things only to find later that we should have accomplished more? What triggered these thoughts was a three and a half mile run I had with my brother Michael (age 29) and a good friend Glenn (age 24).

Both I and my brother were not in the best of shape. So it was slightly encouraging when we finished averaging a ten minute eighteen second mile. Running a ten minute mile is a good average, especially for someone who is out of shape. Glenn on the other hand ran a nine minute eighteen second mile which is of course one minute faster than the rest of us.

What makes this feat more incredible is the fact that for the first half of our run Glenn was right with me and Michael. This means he ran the second half at least one minute faster than the first. Imagine what he could have done running the entire three and a half miles at that speed!

Glenn had very a very different goal (standard) than the rest of us. Our goal was to simply survive the run without collapsing. He had the goal of running a very fast time and beating what he had done in the past. Now having making my standard survival is just fine when we are talking about running for more than three miles. But what if simply surviving becomes my goal for other areas of my life?

Let’s say that I make this the standard by which my ministry in Australia is evaluated. If my goal is simply maintain status quo will there be any growth? Doing what everyone else is doing isn’t always a deep sin, but it is if I could do more. If I am settling on just surviving instead of running ahead then according to Scripture I am in sin.

This doesn’t mean I travel to the other extreme and become a spastic individual who acts without thinking. Instead it means that I am very careful to do more than the status quo whenever possible. And maybe set my standards a bit higher as time passes. It is necessary to do this because of all God has done for us. And many times we can do much more than just survive.