Recognize your size

I was watching Running Wild with Bear Grylls, as he was traveling with Matthew McConaughey. They were in Norway in the midst of tremendous mountains, difficult terrain. As they were walking, McConaughey said that he needed to “shake the city off” and talked about how the Norway terrain made him feel small. He said that he needed this humility.

McConaughey recognized that in his daily life, he was big. People recognized him, put him on a pedestal, maybe even worshipped him. He craved this Norway trip to help him see how small he really is. His flesh craved being seen as big, but he recognized that he needed to check himself, remembering that in the grand scheme of things, he is small.

Big versus small.

We all have this desire to be big. 

I desire to be big. I desire for the world to revolve around me. I desire for others to focus on me. I desire for my name to be glorified. I desire for my name to be in lights. I desire for my work to be known throughout the company and in my community. I desire for my name to matter, to carry weight.

Then, I read the narrative of Scripture.

Abraham received a promise from God in about 1950 BC. In great summary, he was told that he would be blessed by having a large family and that his descendants would be slaves for 400 years in a foreign land.

Years later, Abraham’s great grandson,Joseph, is sold into slavery by his 11 brothers, ends up in Egypt, rises to power, and devises a strategy to survive and prosper in an upcoming famine. To survive the famine, Joseph’s brothers moved to Egypt under his care.

Eventually, through this and other events, all of Abraham’s descendants are enslaved in Egypt. Total time in the foreign land, about 400 years.

Many events happened in the story above to bring God’s promise to fruition. Many people were involved. Each of the events and each of the people were small when you look at the big narrative, the picture of the fulfilled promise. And, the full narrative of Scripture is much, much bigger from beginning to end.

The narrative of life is big. I am small. As much as I want the narrative of life to be about me, the truth is much bigger.

And, I have to be intentional to recognize my smallness, otherwise, the ego fights to be fed. And, as Ryan Holliday said, the ego is the enemy. The fight looks like a craving for notoriety, a craving to be known, a craving to rise above others, a craving to do anything to be big.

We all need something in our life to help us see our smallness, as this recognition brings needed humility.  The narrative is much bigger.

Perhaps the greatest impact to recognizing your size is the impact on others.

When one recognizes their size, the natural output is impacting others. The purpose becomes to play a role in helping fulfill the narrative in another’s life.

Remember your size today and impact others.