When you’re tempted to compare, what you should know

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FacebookTwitterGoogle+DiggPinterestBloggerDisclaimer: Today’s blog post may surprise you, disappoint you, or unsettle you. None of those are my intent. I’m simply going to be vulnerable and tell you an area of struggle in my life and then, past that, shine a me-sized spotlight on my truest Father and great and power-full Dad who counsels me continually through this and many other issues. I am His, He is mine, and it’s all such a wonder!

It happened again. Clicking in to the newsfeed, and there it came. One glance at her numbers, and I could feel the slide.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this–that I have a Dad and He’s big and He’s wise, and I can go to Him any time. So I did.

And so I say it. “This is how I’m feeling, Father. I feel that I give all I have to give. I’m obedient to You. I follow Your lead, and still. It seems to fall flat. But she, on the other hand…”

He waits; quiet, listening. I’m surprised again at the absence of condemnation. Where was this God in my childhood?

So I continue. “It makes me feel depressed. Discouraged. Demoralized. Small, left behind and overlooked. I really need You to talk to me about this.”

Patient, respectful and loving Dad that He is, He starts here. “So you feel depressed. De-pressed. Pressed down? Held back? Squelched?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re feeling dis-couraged. It takes your courage away, this smallness and her bigness?”

“Yes.”

“You feel de-moralized, right? It steals your morale, your will to continue, to press in and use your gifts?”

“Yes! That’s exactly how I feel. Please talk to me about this.”

So He does. Miracle of all miracles, the God of the universe, the One Who’s chosen adoption, sits down with me, unsettled child, and He talks. Just as though He were here in my home. For He is.

“I need her in that place. She is reaching the ones I intend for her to reach. It’s a place that’s not meant for you.”

I’m listening.

“But I have a place for you. She has limits that will keep her in that sector. You have limits, too, and I–I’m the One writing your stories. You’re in different chapters, different seasons.”

Still, there is no shame. Just the wisdom of a Father Who’s teaching.

“Let’s look at those voices that are crowding you, the feelings of being de-pressed, dis-couraged, and de-moralized. Are these voices from Me, little sister? Are they true? Has anything changed about your future or about My plans and dreams and intentions for you?”

No, no, and no. It’s all truth. Glorious, liberating, wonderful truth. And the truth, of course, sets me free.

Today, I remember again the nugget that often comes when comparison brings trouble. “I’m not her, that’s true. But she’s not me, either.” And both of us, we are loved.

Loved and needed. For there’s room at Father’s table for us both.

I hope this speaks to you today if you, too, struggle with comparison. God’s got a plan for you, sister, and for you, brother, and He needs you to be YOU–and no one else–to fulfill it.

Amen and amen.

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