The Short End of the Stick

You didn’t get the promotion.

You didn’t get pregnant.
You got pregnant.
You didn’t get the job.
You didn't get the right test result.
You didn’t get the girl.
You didn't get the guy...


Disappointments are something many of us deal with. They come in all shapes, sizes and forms.

My life is good not great.

I’m grateful but not always happy.

Just last week I was sitting on a boat, in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and life was just ok.
Just ok.

 Some of you may have 98% of the things you have always dreamed of.

But the 2% is what keeps you up at night.

Just the other day, I read in Genesis 13: 8-11 how Abram and Lot had to end up parting ways and going separate directions. Abram says to Lot,”Let’s not have any quarreling between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right;if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the Garden of the Lord…so Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan”

Now, if I was Abram, I would have been pretty upset. Talk about getting the short end of the stick.

Lot gets the Louis Vitton and Abram gets the plastic bag.
Lot gets the mansion and Abram gets the shack.
Lot gets the Four Seasons and Abram gets the cardboard box….
Or so it seems.

It’s interesting to me that the Bible never discusses Abrams reaction to this incident.

Abram goes his own way, not saying a single word.

I think this is something we all could learn from, especially in situations when life doesn’t seem fair.

Shortly after Abram parts ways from Lot, we read how the Lord speaks to Abram in Genesis 13:14, saying, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”

God knows.

He knows that sometimes life seems unfair to us. He knows that sometimes we need a little reassurance that He is still working in our lives, even when everything around us speaks otherwise.

We don’t know what is around the corner. What the next mile holds.
We can’t see the future so we don’t understand how every disappointment is actually guiding us.

We don’t grow in character if we don’t go through the disappointments and rejections.

We don’t grow in humility if we were to always get everything we always wanted.
Right now it is hard for me even to write that because that 2% part of me is pointing my finger at God saying, “Really??!?”

But God knows.

And so, like Abram, I walk and go my own way.

I continue to journey down the path that is the one God has marked out for me. And even though it doesn't always make sense, I still walk.
Most importantly, I keep my eyes focused on Christ and look straight ahead, not to the left at that person that just received a promotion, not to the right at my friend who just walked down the aisle, but straight ahead.

 Straight ahead towards the finish line.

I don’t need a hundred awards in my hand when I reach the end.
I don’t need a corner office when I reach the end.
I don’t need a full bank account when I reach the end.
I don’t need the straightest teeth, a wrinkle free face and or the smallest waist size when I reach the end.
I don't need my list of charities I've contributed to.
I don't need my list of good deeds.
I don’t even need a marriage certificate when I reach the end.

What I do need is a heart that has been humbled, a life that has been selfless and a hand that has always been reached out to help others up and along on their own journey.