Do you compare yourself to others, thinking you need to be more like them to “make it?”

Maybe there are days when you feel like a little bird perched on a branch with the sky above full of eagles and condors. You’re waiting. They’re flying. Just looking at them makes you feel like you’re the least likely to succeed. You may even ask yourself:

Will I ever get there?

Am I just wasting my time?

Is there an easier way?

What am I doing wrong?

When, Lord?!

Abraham and his wife were the least likely to have a child. Until God showed up.

Gideon was the least in his family. Until the angel of the Lord showed up.

The woman at the well was the least likely to have anyone listen to what she had to say. Until Jesus showed up.

As underdogs, we may find ourselves nowhere near taking flight but standing on the bottom rung of the world’s ladder. Sometimes we even camp out in the dirt just waiting to get on the ladder. We sit here and watch others climb until they’re so far up we can’t see them.

We pray for them. We hope for them.

And then we cry and wonder why we can’t do that too.

After a while, we realize it’s a privilege to sit in the dirt when we’re waiting on God to move. We know, when the time is right, He’s going to take us to a place unlike any rung on any worldly ladder.

It’s the place where Abraham and Sarah held their newborn son, Isaac.

It’s the place of victory Gideon found when he and his 300 men defeated the enemy’s thousands.

It’s the place where the woman at the well found others listening and believing her testimony.

You see, my friend, your faith will grow in the dirt. Your patience will be stretched further than you thought possible. You’ll learn to discern God’s voice over your own, the world’s, and even the enemy’s. And you’ll acquire nuggets of wisdom from God for your journey.

And your place? Well, it isn’t the place you can get to on your own or by following other people. And you certainly can’t get there by trying to be just like them.

It’s the place of soaring, not climbing, as God lifts you up while you cling to Him.

So perhaps you are the least likely to succeed.

But then God shows up…

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2a NIV.)

“Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land.” (Psalm 37:34a-b NIV.)

“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8 NIV.)