I was talking with a friend yesterday about a particular issue that I'm going through at the moment and he made a really wise comment. He told me not to worry about the gap but to deal with where God has you now. As I've been thinking about this over the last day or so I have realized how much of my thought life revolves around the gap. Let me explain.

The gap is the difference between expectations and reality. The gap is the difference between what other people think you should be doing and what you are doing. The gap is between what you think you should have done and what you actually did. The gap is between what you think should have happened and what actually happened. The gap is between what you think someone else should have done and what they did. The gap is between where you hoped that you'd be by now and where you actually are. The gap is between what you think you can achieve and what you actually could if you tried.

All of these things are manifestations of the gap with subtle differences. Take other people's expectations for example. There is a situation in my life where I know that I'm not measuring up to someone else's expectations, there is a gap there. I feel bad that I'm not filling that gap but what I need to do is look at the lessons that God is teaching me step by step and not let the size of the gap overwhelm me, all the time wanting to fill the gap but not letting it overwhelm me. Take the gap between what you think you should have done and what you actually did. I know that this Easter weekend was my time to get some stuff done that I have totally failed to get done. Instead I let the guilt at the little gap between my responsibility and my actions drive me into escapism which made the gap bigger which led to more escapism and so on.

All of these things are subtly different but they have the same cure, Jesus. Jesus accepts us for who we are (He made us after all) so we don't need to let other people's expectations of who we should be rule our lives (remembering that sometimes Jesus uses other people to let us know what He wants us to know). Jesus died on the cross to forgive us so that the guilt we feel at doing the wrong thing can be dealt with and we can be free of it. Jesus gives us acceptance and grace and love so that we don't have to be harder on ourselves than necessary. Jesus assures us that there is a plan for our lives and assures us that whatever our circumstances He is in control. Jesus gives us the grace to love and forgive others so that when they let us down we can still love them. Jesus gives us the confidence to know that what we can achieve with Him is so much more than we could achieve alone.

Jesus help me to dwell on you and not on the gap.

posted by Peter at 3:45 PM