Life would be amazing if everyone was as happy as they appear on social media. For the most part, we only post the good stuff. But it is only a snapshot of our lives.  It only shows who we are in that moment. One moment is not a complete picture.

We often feel like we do not measure up to other Christians.  We watch as other people do what we know we are called to do, and it is intimidating. But we need to remember first that we should not compare ourselves to others for two main reasons.  One, if we see someone we aspire to be like, we will feel inadequate and never wish to try to do what we are called to do.  If we feel superior, we run the risk of being self-righteous and judgmental, and not seeking God’s plan for our lives because we can do it on our own. If it is truly a calling of God, it will not be a cakewalk, especially at first.  It will always be something that causes us to step out of our comfort zones.

That being said, we should never look at someone else and wonder if we will ever get to where they are because we are looking at only one moment in time. For example, I know I talk a lot about my grandfather; he was a powerful man of God. By the time I was born, he had been preaching for almost twenty years.

I never knew the man he was at twenty-two that said he couldn’t even testify. He knew he was called to preach.  He said he would study a testimony, and when he stood up, he would go blank.  I can sort of relate to the story. When I see the red light on a video camera, I go blank; that is why I must read everything.  He said one night, he got up to testify and God took over; he was on the floor for about twenty minutes.  After that, he never had any trouble with what to say. He had learned to yield to God and His plan for his life.

Walking out God’s plan is not easy. If it were easy, we could do it on our own; we wouldn’t need God. I didn’t see the young man who went to the woods with his bible and prayed for God to give him a revelation. I didn’t see the moments of hardship, moments of triumph, or any of the things he walked through to make him that powerful man of God. I only saw the result.

We can’t look at someone else and compare where we are walking right now.  Who knows what our walk will look like a year from now, five years from now? Only God knows what he is going to do with our lives. Only God knows what he will allow in our lives to make us stronger.

We look at that person who is anointed to sing and we are often in awe. We think, “Oh, to sing like that,” but we are only seeing one moment. We do not see all the times they hit their knees in prayer that God would give them an anointing to stir people’s hearts.  We don’t see the countless hours of practice and planning.  We don’t see the work involved; we only see that one moment.

We see a prayer warrior cut loose with a prayer that gives you goosebumps, and you feel like fire is going to fall from heaven.  Their words are precise and powerful.  They intercede with precision.  We stand in awe of such a prayer.  We feel like we are puny and cannot even pray. That is only a moment in time. We do not see all the hours of prayer that gave them the ability to move heaven.  We do not see the painful things that they have walked through to get them to the place where they pray with such bold authority.

On the other hand, we should not judge someone by the moment that they make a mistake. It is easy to look at them and judge them for not having better control. But we don’t know what they have endured and what made them make the choices they made. We may make the same choices under the same circumstances.

I Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

This verse is a warning to not think that we are so perfect that we could never make a mistake. When we get to the point that we are so holy that we cannot make a mistake, God has a way of allowing satan to come in with just the right temptation to cause us to fall. I don’t ever want to be found guilty of judging someone in their one moment of weakness.  Because we do not see all the times that they are strong. Judging someone for one moment in their life is like judging a book by one sentence. That one moment is not the full picture. Just like one sentence cannot give all the details of a book.

Peter denied Jesus; in the moment that he did, some would judge him to be unworthy of God’s forgiveness.  But Jesus didn’t let one moment of weakness define Peter.  He gave him the keys to the kingdom.  Jesus called Peter a rock. Jesus knew how strong Peter was and would be in the future.

It is easy to get caught up in one moment and forget that life is a journey.  We are not meant to stay stuck in a moment.  But we are to make the most of every moment we have been given. We are supposed to forget the things that are behind us and press forward.

If you find yourself in the middle of a regretful moment where you’ve made a mistake. Do not let it define you. If you find yourself in the middle of trying to step into a new calling. Don’t let it hold you back.  It only takes one moment of faith to propel us into the future of who we are and are becoming.