struggles – Oh Lord Help Us

Endurance, endure, hope, salvation, love, struggles, perseverance, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Endure: The Key to Gaining Hope from Our Struggles

DevotionalsAugust 7, 2019July 27, 2019

Everyone faces struggles. Some things we can avoid, but others we must endure. This is how we are able to find hope from pain.

A few years ago there was a Target commercial that really ticked me off. It was this woman who got up, made her children this beautiful, healthy breakfast, got them dressed and off to school. Then she got herself ready for her professional job where I’m sure she was incredibly successful. And, of course, she then went to the gym and worked out while beautifully sweating, only to come home and spend the evening laughing and playing with her kids.

What a load of crap. It irritated me because this is the pressure put on women. It isn’t fair! I can’t compete with that, and trust me – I’ve tried.

Now, there is another commercial that is irritating me. It’s for migraine medicine. This woman (because she isn’t hindered by migraines while taking this medication apparently) is so happy to play dress-up with her daughter. But it isn’t just simple silly dress up. It’s pirates and princesses. And then this grown woman is dressed up as a robot chasing her daughter. Seriously, it is a box robot costume like I made for my son when he was three. But her’s says “mom bot” on it. It is so obnoxious.

I mainly hate this commercial because it makes me feel like I am missing something. Or I need to be a different mom. Or I’m ruining my children because I don’t want to play with them. I know lots of moms who do love playing with their children. At least I feel like there are lots. I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t. I feel like I’m wrong because there are many times I honestly hate being a mom.

An Honest Struggle

The real struggle is that I don’t feel like I can be honest about this. Especially in Christian circles, where the role of motherhood is so honored. The moms who stay home are applauded for sacrificing for the needs of their children, but this attitude implies that women who work are selfish.

Honestly, I want to be a working mom. For years I was. I had my work-thing, then I came home and did the mom-thing. It was a good balance. Now I don’t know where I fit in. I’m home and I work which leads to constant distraction and aggravation. I want to be there for my children when they need me. I want to work. Sigh. I feel like I’m failing at all of it.

So here is my honest… I do hate being a mom at times.

I hate the constant noise, the disciplining, the toys and messes. And then I hate myself. I feel like crap because I know there are so many women who desperately want to be a mom. There are women who would love to work from home. There are women who would love to have a migraine free day to play dress up.

And so the downward spiral begins.

What can I do?

I can literally beat myself up. Numerous times I have left my legs bruised from hitting myself hard and repeatedly. I have punched a solid wood door – only once. That left me hurting for more than a week. I have hurled insults at my reflection I would never dream of thinking of anyone else.

I can distract myself. Typically it is work, but it can also be exercise or alcohol.

Or I can go to the Lord. And I do. Over and over. I pray, I read, I listen to encouraging messages. And still, motherhood does not get easier. I get angry, I get desperate, and I spiral around again.

Honestly, I hate writing about this. I would much prefer to talk about something I have already walked through and share how the Lord came through. I love those messages! But that is not this message. Because, let’s be honest, some of life’s messes take a long time to walk through. Sometimes God’s redemption seems a long way off. Sometimes we are hanging on by a thread. But I can’t just say “life is crap, good luck!”

Endure

What we do when there seems to be no end is ENDURE.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Romans 5:3-5, NLT

Trials

For me, right now, this is motherhood. I’m struggling in it right now. For you, it may be finances, or chronic pain, or in your marriage, or any other multitude of life situations that are difficult to navigate. But we are to rejoice? Y’all, I don’t know if I’m ready for rejoicing just yet.

“Develop endurance…”

I can totally relate to this; I know what it means to train. There are 19 marathons, 4 half marathons, and 3 triathlons on these legs. Believe me, I know how to endure so that I can become stronger and faster.

To endure is to continue even when we are uncomfortable. And half of the battle is in the mind. When running a marathon, you cannot think about the fact that you have 21 miles to go at mile 5. You will panic. Right now, I need to not think about the fact that my daughter is not yet 4. I have too many years to go for that to feel helpful! And when our mind begins to shut down, our body will follow.

Last weekend, my 11-year-old son was mowing. It was hot, he was tired, he wanted to quit. But he told himself that he would get the front yard done. And he did. Then he pretty much collapsed and had a complete meltdown which is rare for him. But he did it because his mind told him to endure. Even though he was miserably uncomfortable.

Endurance is when we don’t stop when it’s hard. It requires the mind deciding not to give up.

But how do we continue when our bodies and minds have nothing left to give. This is when we acknowledge our limitations, surrender, and believe God’s strength will get us through.

“Endurance develops strength of character…”

This is where we begin to put the fruits of the spirit into action. It is where we learn to love when we don’t feel it, to have joy in the middle of struggle, to have peace in the middle of chaos, to be patient when we are frustrated, to be kind when we are treated unfairly, to do good in a world full of evil, to be faithful when we don’t understand, to have gentleness when we are angry, and to have self-control when we are tempted. This is the Character of God, and we have the ability to live like Jesus when we have the Holy Spirit within us.

“Character strengthens our confident hope of salvation…”

When we live out this character, our confidence grows in who God says He is. We know we have received the ultimate miracle of salvation. To be rescued from an eternity separated from God. Everything else… is icing.

“For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Love. Over the past several years the Lord has taken me on a journey to believe His love for me. It is His love for me that has given me the confidence to take risks. To keep putting myself out there, exposing my vulnerabilities, pursuing the visions He has placed inside me. But it was not until earlier this year I began to believe that God actually likes me too.

Don’t Give Up

Therefore, because of these struggles, I have hope. Hope that one day, I can rejoice with my children and celebrate all of the traits God has given them, and enjoy them.

Endurance is deciding in the mind to remain faithful even when we don’t feel it. Christ endured in obedience, and ultimately gained victory in defeating death.

It is ok to struggle in your struggle. It is not ok to give up. So endure on, dear sister. There is hope for victory in perseverance.

Endurance is deciding in the mind to remain faithful even when we don’t feel it. Christ endured in obedience, and ultimately gained victory in defeating death. It is ok to struggle in your struggle. It is not ok to give up. Click To Tweet

Jonathan Cooper

thankful, gratitude, burdens, struggles, peace, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Burdens: Offering Gratitude and Thanksgiving to God

DevotionalsMarch 20, 2019March 20, 2019

When we choose to dwell on the struggles of this life, we can easily become burdened. We can release these burdens through gratitude and thanksgiving to God.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,

Hebrews 12:28, CSB

We have all had days that start off on the wrong side of the bed. We wake up to instant chaos and all things wrong, knowing it’s an extra cup of coffee kind of day… only to find we forgot to buy more coffee at the store.

The Burdens Are Real

I have had so many days like this! At this point, I feel like they have become my normal routine. Children wetting the bed at 5:30 A.M., an hour before the alarm clock goes off. Someone getting sick on a day I have tons of errands to run. Forgetting the keys as I walk out the door, only to find I locked the door before shutting it.

Getting in the car to take kids to school and suddenly realizing I never filled up the car with gas the day before. Yep, it’s a miracle I’m able to write and share this with you today. But hey, God has a sense of humor, and I like to think He includes my life in it. Whatever helps me cope, right?!

Point being, we are all faced with messes we have to clean up. We are constantly greeted with unexpected frustrations that try to get the best of us. At any moment we may choose to drop it all and have our own fallout, pity party, adult tantrum; wishing all these burdens would magically just go away. At least, that’s how I feel most days. I realized my soul was struggling inwardly to understand how to receive peace the way Jesus spoke of in John 14:27.

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

John 14:27, CSB

The Inward Struggle Is Real

We all have asked this question at one point in our lives or another: What’s the point of all this? Every day has the same repetitive issues while juggling a whole new set that gets thrown our way. The cycle of life seems never-ending, and most of the time, just flat-out depressing and exhausting.

I want to be happy and at peace, but this world seems to completely rob me of that luxury. How on earth, literally, ON EARTH, am I suppose to have joy and peace, when I am surrounded by all this negativity and mess? This translation in Ecclesiastes, I think, perfectly describes how I feel most days…

That’s when I called it quits, gave up on anything that could be hoped for on this earth. What’s the point of working your fingers to the bone if you hand over what you worked for to someone who never lifted a finger for it? Smoke, that’s what it is. A bad business from start to finish. So what do you get from a life of hard labor? Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night’s rest. Nothing but smoke.

Ecclesiastes 2:20-23, MSG

I have a feeling I’m not alone in this way of thinking. I’m sure Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, knew people would think this way too; which is why he wrote it.

Listen Carefully

I found myself in another jumbled up chaotic day where nothing was going right. I was tired, frustrated and just completely fed up with life. I woke up irritated with an extra load of laundry from a child wetting the bed; the kids were late for school and my car wouldn’t start after dropping them off! Of course, I did all this without coffee because I forgot to buy more at the store. Like I mentioned earlier; it’s a miracle I am able to write this!

This was just another day full of annoyances and frustrations that were causing my attitude toward my husband and kids to be very unkind! I am never a pleasant person for them to be around when I start my day like this. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos of my day, I quietly heard God whisper to me: “I am here…I am with you…I know how you feel. Go and sin no more.”

I huffed and complained the whole way, but finally decided to sit down and spend time with God. I turned off all the distractions around me, and I turned on my ears to hear what He was trying to teach me through this messy day. God sweetly spoke to me; “Offer up prayers of thanksgiving child.” The Lord wanted me to go throughout my day so far and find the things that went right, rather than wrong, and say thank you for them.

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7, CSB

Follow His Guidance

And so the list began…

Thank you, Lord, for the laundry detergent that allowed me to wash my child’s sheets. Thank you for the water for him to shower and the soap to get him clean. Thank you for the person you provided today to help jump-start my car when it died. Thank you for giving my husband the knowledge to know what was wrong with the car and the ability to fix it. Thank you for allowing me to have this time spent with you so I can reflect on the things that went right instead of wrong.

With every thank you I sent up, a new feeling of peace and calm were sent down. I finally understood what the Lord meant when He said…

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28, CSB

The more I offered up those prayers of thanksgiving to God, the more I felt the burdens of that day drift away. Through this, my soul found rest.

Say Thank You

We were never meant to carry the weight of life’s daily frustration and stress. The whole purpose of the cross was to take those burdens away from us. Jesus took our place so we could enjoy life, not be burdened by it.

Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.

Psalm 118:5, ESV

When we all sit down and really think about what Jesus did for us, how can we honestly say anything BUT, Thank You?

Today, I invite you, dear reader, to try this out for yourself. When you feel burdened by life and things seem to be falling apart around you, don’t get discouraged, Friend! Instead, reflect on your day or situation, and find something to say thank you to God for. It’s there. You just have to be intentional to find it.

We were never meant to carry the weight of life's daily frustration and stress. The whole purpose of the cross was to take those burdens away from us. Click To Tweet

Samara Doole

lament, fear not, joy, Oh Lord Help Us, ministry, Christian, women

Lament: Fear Not, Limitless Joy is Available in the Midst of Struggle

Devotionals, Stay SaneJune 4, 2018September 8, 2019

Feeling sorrowful does not necessarily indicate lack of trust. Having a right understanding of God’s limitless power and love frees us to lament with hope. Joy is unshakable in the midst of struggle.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4, ESV

A great deal of life seems to play out in the valley of the shadow of death. As a matter of fact, I am currently in a season of darkness. Why not throw in the towel? How can I continue to take joy in the God of my salvation when following Him places me on the front lines of battle? Hope, for one; but not as an afterthought. Because flippantly telling someone to have hope in the midst of a trial is like telling an exasperated man “patience is a virtue.” Yes, thank you; I am aware.

Fear not…

It would be easy to fixate on my current heartache, but that gives birth to anxiety. However, God’s word has a lot to say in response to fear. Over and over in Scripture we are told to fear not. But it isn’t dismissive in nature like, why can’t you keep it together? I’m God, remember? No; He commands: fear not, and then tells us why we don’t have to be afraid.

FEAR NOT:

I am with you
I am the One who helps you
I have redeemed you
I am your shield
I hear you
I am working righteousness in you
I fight for you
I go with you into battle to give you victory
I am with you wherever you go
I give victory
Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord

Lament…

Notwithstanding, neither can I ignore or control the incapacitating sorrow weighing down my soul. I must lament. Because the act of lamenting faces me toward God. While in His presence I am able to share honestly all that grieves and worries me. Within His capable arms I can say: This is too much! I feel overwhelmed! Remind me of your faithfulness. Open my eyes to see where You are working this for Your glory and our good. Fight for us! Protect us. Help me to stand firm on Your promises.

When we act like we can handle our suffering on our own, we commit idolatry — acting like we are God, capable in ourselves. Lamenting is relearning our humanity. Lamenting is admitting that we can’t handle it, knowing we need God’s power, mercy, and grace. If we could handle our sufferings, we wouldn’t need Jesus, his cross, his power, and his resurrection. Lamenting is how we grieve as those who have hope.

J.A. Medders, Redeemer Church Tomball, TX

Limitless…

Relearning my humanity = understanding my limits. Finally, it is there I remember I belong to a limitless God. Furthermore, I can only dream of what God has prepared for the future. But even now, in His mercy, I am seeing collateral blessings rise up out of this dark valley. So I find as I rely on our limitless God, hope is catching like wildfire.

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort…For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

2 Corinthians 1:7-10, ESV

Relearning my humanity = understanding my limits. Finally, it is there I remember I belong to a limitless God. Click To Tweet

Pain: Cast Aside Blame and See the Purpose of Suffering and Sacrifice

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 11, 2018June 27, 2019

Life is full of pain, leaving us wanting to blame something or someone for our suffering. Can there be purpose behind our struggles and sacrifices?

If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both. This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form.

C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Eleven years ago last fall, my body began to feel like a traitorous enemy. What at first felt like aches and pains from a virus became nightly leg and feet pain that was nearly unbearable and robbed me of sleep. I was a hospital chaplain, on my feet most of the day, so I assumed that I simply needed to wear more supportive shoes instead of my usual stylish choices. However, nothing seemed to alleviate the pain that gradually began to spread throughout my body. Blinding migraines hit the following spring. By June, I had missed so many days of work that, weeping, I tendered my resignation.

Despite having classic symptoms, it still took eight months and numerous doctor visits to receive a diagnosis other than it being ‘all in my head’ or ‘depression.’ I had fibromyalgia. At the time, there weren’t many options other than pain meds, which I didn’t want because addiction runs strong in my family of origin.

There were many dark days to follow, months searching for treatments or cures, (there aren’t any), and numerous seasons questioning why, why, why. An understanding doctor, a fibromyalgia clinic in Atlanta, a husband who would stop at nothing to see me receive whatever I needed, and a patient, loving Father saw me through the next two years. Although I don’t know a day without pain somewhere in my body, by the grace of God, it isn’t the focus of my life.

A verse from a song by NEEDTOBREATHE always arrests me when I hear it because I now see pain in a different light, too:

Don’t let the night become the day
Don’t take the darkness to the grave
I know pain is just a place
The will has been broken
Don’t let the fear become the hate
Don’t take the sadness to the grave
I know the fight is on the way
When the sides have been chosen

Pain

Pain, the gift nobody wants, as Paul Brand wrote with Philip Yancey in their classic 1993 book (cleverly titled, Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants). In it, Brand described the staggering lessons he had gleaned from his work with leprosy patients, many of whom had lost the ability to feel any pain at all. One might think that was a good thing, yet Brand reported that the lepers would come to the clinic with festering, infected burns or injuries. Why had they waited so long? They could not feel the pain. Limbs had to be removed due to untreated, un-felt injuries. “The mind responded to these effects of painlessness with a feeling that could only be called suffering,” Brand wrote.

It seems pain and suffering often arrive at the same time. Many of us have suffered helplessly as we watched a loved one die slowly, painfully from a terminal disease such as cancer. Or perhaps like me, you deal with pain on a daily basis. Sometimes we question why. When I was a hospital chaplain, I can’t count the number of times I was asked why God allowed “this to happen” or allowed their loved one to suffer so much. There is an important choice to be made here – we can continue to seek God’s face in the pain or we can let the anger and sadness take us to places of bitter darkness.

Blame

God is an easy target on which to focus blame. After all, He’s in charge of everything. It shouldn’t matter if I’m an unbeliever, or I’ve been blatantly unfaithful. God is LOVE, isn’t He? Even more so if I’m a super-Christian, (aka – overcommitted and uber busy with church activities). Isn’t God supposed to step up when I am in pain and deliver me immediately?

I can’t say that has ever been my experience…has it ever been yours? Have you seen that born out in Scripture? Why, then, do we continue to question the existence of pain and suffering in our lives or in the world?

Suffering

As written in Christianity Today: Stanley Hauerwas, [American theologian and ethicist], famously said, “The great enemy of the church today is not atheism but sentimentality.” In his view, there’s no deeper sentimentality than the presumption that we (or our children) can hold convictions without suffering for them. To have true convictions is to love something bigger than the self, and we cannot love God or others without suffering…holding to our convictions might mean suffering unto death.

The entire Bible is very clear about the inevitability of pain in life. There is even a man in I Chronicles 4:9 whose name means pain! (All childbirth is painful, but wow! That’s harsh!) Interesting side note, being named Pain (or Jabez) didn’t scar him for life. In fact, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…” Is it possible pain has a positive purpose?

If you have ever read Hebrews 11 in its entirety, you know that it contains many who died in the faith, not having received the promises…(v13, NKJV). Verses 35-40 describe types of suffering and trials which men and women of faith endured because they knew that God had provided something better for us (v40, NKJV). These were people of whom the world was not worthy, (v 38, NKJV), yet we shudder to contemplate modeling our lives after them. Their suffering seems too monumental.

Sacrifice

And of course, there is the example of Jesus, telling us boldly in John 15 that love, not emotional, flighty, what’s-in-it-for-me “love,” but genuine love, sacrificial love, love that forgets about my wants and needs in order to meet my husband’s or my child’s or neighbor’s needs when necessary, the kind that dies to self over and over and over in order to display the love of Jesus…that kind of love is His commandment. It’s not a suggestion and He isn’t telling us to do something He hasn’t done or isn’t doing.

Love lays down its life.

Jesus simply commanded His disciples to love others in the same way He had been loving them, even as He was moving inexorably toward the cross. Nothing was going to stop Him, no torture, pain, suffering or betrayal of friends; He knew what was required for our redemption.

Nothing was going to stop Him, no torture, pain, suffering or betrayal of friends; He knew what was required for our redemption. Click To Tweet

Love laid down His life.

It’s usually painful – loving, that is…and life, too. Look no farther than the evening news for proof of the latter and at the last argument, you had with your spouse or close friend for the former. But imagine this world – or your life – without a trace of His love. It’s unimaginable, isn’t it?

The older I get the more I realize that I have only touched the hem of His garment where His love is concerned.

He freely gave it. He freely died.

And He commanded us to do likewise.

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

freestocks.org

Known: To Be Known By, and To Know the Unknowable God

Devotionals, Stay SaneFebruary 27, 2018February 14, 2020

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

Psalms 91:14, NKJV

Like my father before me, I struggle with SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder. We SAD folks need sunshine, LOTS of sunshine. Living in a city that is cloudy 56-57% of the time during the months of January and February only serves to exacerbate SADness. Beginning after Christmas, a quiet inner battle for emotional peace and a deep yearning for Spring begins in my soul.

Brennan Manning stated in Reflections for Ragamuffins, “Perhaps this is the essence of trust: to be convinced of the reliability of God.” During some of my darker days, I wonder where my trust in God has gone. Do I know Him as I claim I do? Am I an impostor? It’s usually a fleeting thing, like briefly wondering how different life would have been if I had done a, b, or c. You’ve been there.

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalms 9:10, NKJV

Unknowable

Yet, for all the years of knowing God, pursuing God, longing for His presence, I am becoming acutely aware of how little I know Him. It’s so easy to fall into a trap of believing that the length of days one has been a Christian or been a faithful servant of Christ equal a depth of knowledge and wisdom said person has of the Savior. Even suffering doesn’t necessarily promise that God will be your new BFF, although it can certainly result in a closer walk with Him.

In the early years of our marriage, my husband and I had a pastor whom we secretly believed had the ‘red phone’ to God! I mean, he was so knowledgeable about the Bible and God; his sermons were so powerful…but then, well…the higher the pedestal the farther they fall, right?

People sit in churches every Sunday professing to know God but make a plethora of excuses for why they don’t have any other time to spend with Him. Christian authors, actors, small business owners, millennials, baby boomers from every denomination have something to say about knowing Him. It sometimes looks very different from what you or I think it looks like…

It often looks very different from what the gospel says knowing God looks like, too.

Unfortunately, one cause is due to thinking of knowing as in, “Oh yeah, I know her; she’s in my exercise class!” Or, “Sure, I know astrology! I look through my telescope at the stars sometimes.” This knowing is as in perceiving or understanding as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty; to be acquainted with, according to Dictionary.com. We can give a head nod to many things in life to which, or to whom, we are acquainted…even God the Father. You know, the “man upstairs.” (Cringe)

Known

But how many people do we know as in “yada“:

The idea of “knowing” in Ancient Hebrew thought is similar to our understanding of knowing but is more personal and intimate. We may say that we “know” someone but simply mean we “know” of his or her existence, but in Hebrew thought, one can only “know” someone if they have a personal and intimate relationship with them. In Genesis 18:19 Elohiym says about Abraham, “I know him” meaning he has a very close relationship with Abraham. In Genesis 4:1 it says that Adam “knew Eve his wife” implying a very intimate relationship. (Strong’s #3045)

Who knows you like that? People who can complete your sentences, but don’t. Or who read your emotional cues and know what to do…

Anyone?

Your Father does. And the incredibly amazing, unfathomable truth is He wants us to intimately know Him, too.

Scripture tells us that God’s greatness is unsearchable, beyond our understanding (Psalms 145:3). His understanding is infinite – we cannot comprehend it (Psalms 147:5)! Paul sounds forth praises exclaiming:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!

Romans 11:33, ESV

Know

Who can know a God like that? Ancient Greek philosophers and believers in Deism wondered, too, referring to God as the “unmoved mover” or a “clockmaker god,” merely setting things in motion, but never getting personal. It seems absurd, but then I wonder sometimes if we don’t live out what they wrote about.

However, throughout the Old Testament, the Father repeatedly calls Israel into an intimate relationship with Him. Among many other things, God goes so far as to make the prophet Hosea’s life a word picture of His abundant love and mercy, then promises that HE will heal their backsliding ways (Hosea 14:4).

Who can fathom that? Can you wrap your mind around that??

I can’t…but I don’t think I’m expected to fully comprehend, really. I know the love and mercy my Father has shown to me. With that in my heart, I run to the throne room. I run into His arms, believing Him when He said,

I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

Hosea 2:19-20, ESV

And on the days I struggle, He holds me.

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Yet, for all the years of knowing God, pursuing God, longing for His presence, I am becoming acutely aware of how little I know Him. Click To Tweet

Measure: Calculating the Flawed Logic of Comparison

Devotionals, Stay SaneFebruary 1, 2018July 30, 2019

To measure our own worth against that of our fellow humans, can be extremely toxic to our hearts. Recognizing the flaws of comparison can be difficult, but vital to the survival of our faith in God.

In our recent video we touched a bit on a collective feeling of comparison riddling our minds. This has hit my heart and I feel like I need to work through this (I feel like we all need to work through this). So, let’s do it together. Let’s recognize the flaws of comparison with the truth of God, in order to overcome the trap.

Measure: Less Than

Comparison has been a personal struggle, probably my whole life. There’s always someone better, someone prettier, someone smarter. In every stage of life, there’s always someone to compare yourself to. As a young girl, as a teen, as a young adult, as a mother, a wife. The list gets longer.

Recently, I shared my daily battle is to overcome negativity. Most specifically, negative thoughts of myself. I compare how I look, the way I parent, how clean my house is, my writing style, how I speak. Deeper yet, I compare my heart, my mission, my past, my present, my future (that’s ridiculous).

All of these comparisons are relative though, aren’t they? They depend on the opinions of the one comparing. So, one could say, I have a poor opinion of myself. I lack confidence. Everyone else is better. A cheap attitude of oneself, slaps God in the face and mocks His precious creation.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14, NIV

Measure: Greater Than

Oppositely, comparison is not exclusive to a low position. It can trap us from a lofty attitude as well.

“At least my sin isn’t as bad.”

“I’m glad I learned to overcome that issue.”

I know I have ventured to this type of place in my heart. Comparing myself to another believer leads to self-justification. I rationalize my own mess because it’s not “as messy” compared. Measuring our sin against that of another believer (or non-believer), opens the door for animosity. Then on to disdain. How dare we take on the role of God in judging the hearts of our brothers and sisters.

And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

1 John 4:21, NLT

Not one of us is greater than any other. We are just different; with different struggles. All have been affected differently based on our unique environments. We are all growing in different ways, learning different lessons. We are all commissioned different ministries for the advancement of the kingdom of God.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17, NIV

All believers have been accepted into the family. Thus, our common denominator is God and His gift of salvation. That is all that matters. We are all unique and help strengthen each other. Hiding this truth in our hearts, exposes the lies of comparison.

Measure: Equal To

“Well, I’m just as good as…”

This thought is also an extremely dangerous comparison. Our only evaluation should be against the commands and teachings of our Father.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you…

2 Corinthians 13:5, NIV

Ultimately, we will never ascend to the greatness of God. We can never live perfect lives. Only Jesus Christ holds this status. Our intention is key. Are we recognizing how flawed it is to measure up to another human?

Measure: The Final Sum

It is human nature to constantly evaluate ourselves against others. However, God calls us to more. He calls us to be not of this world. It is impossible to truly compare ourselves to another human being, because we are all sinful. We are all flawed.

To measure ourselves against another, is to lack all faith in the will of our Father. He does unique work in each of us, and purposes us in accordance with His plan.

Need help overcoming comparison? Consider reading the entirety of 2 Corinthians, chapter 10.

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Dawid Małecki

We are God’s work, and we need only to glorify our Creator for the work He has done.

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