10. Comparison by Robin Fields

I got to talk to Robin this week, on the phone, after not hearing her voice in a year or more. I found myself closing my eyes just to take in her voice so that I could "feel" her a little better. Robin is the person you want in your corner. She is strong and mighty and powerful and wise and so compassionate. Even her voice brings peace. She even came to visit me in Africa. When she left I put my head in her lap and sobbed my guts out. I had not done that with someone in a very long time and haven't cried quite like that since. She let me get out all my fear and all my sadness from all I left behind and she told me, "You can do this." And I did. 

Thank you for sharing with us, Robin. 

"Comparison is the death of joy."  Mark Twain

How true this is in our everyday life! 

From our point of view, comparison is looking to see how things (or people) are similar or different. 

Whether we are listening to people during  ministry time  or to friends and family, it's always amazing to hear how we view ourselves.  And how we often feel that others might have something better than we do or might be something more than what we are. 

When I look at others through the eyes of faith, through the spiritual and natural sight that God gave me, it's easy to see His Beauty in them.  And why Jesus was so willing to give His Life for ours.

I love the way The Message talks about us in Psalm 139:

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb.  I thank you, High God-you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration-what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,how I was sculpted from nothing into something."

So then it is no accident that we are made to be exactly as we are. When we compare ourselves to others, are we questioning God's Wisdom in creating us?

One of the most heartbreaking things I have seen is when a person does not know that only they can fill their place in the universe.  No one else can bring what they bring into our atmosphere and into the Formation of the Body of Christ.

I believe that when we agree with God's decision to create us and bless His creation as  good, then we can begin to embrace ourselves fully.  Watching someone realize that they are not a mistake and that they are as valuable as anyone else has been the most joyous thing I have ever witnessed.  There is no freedom that compares with realizing that even with all of our mistakes, we are daily blessed with unconditional love and favor.

I recently heard someone say that we have focused too much on what we do rather than who we are.  This is  my simple paraphrase, but I agree that we are just as precious to God and to other people, whether we are saving the world, raising children, creating wealth or just reveling in the knowledge that He loves us for who we are, just where we are.

When I have pondered the challenges of those I have been tempted to compare myself to, I have concluded that God has given me everything that I need to meet the specific challenges in my life.  I am not equipped to deal with the challenges of others.  It makes me very happy to know that I am more than adequately equipped to meet the unique set of challenges that come my way.

I have had seasons of repenting because I thought I wasn't as good as someone else or that my life didn't bear as much "fruit" as another.  But I am still joyfully learning that there is no one else exactly like me and continuing to learn to embrace everything about myself.  As I learn how to embrace the parts of myself that I don't consider to be that great, He is showing me more about His Amazing Love; He's not surprised by anything that I lack or put off by anything that I don't do well.

Jesus prayed that His joy would be in us and that our joy would be complete.  

He calls us Friends.

What can compare with that?