22 Mar Comparison… It’s a hard game to play!
“The word of the Lord came to me:
I chose you before I formed you in the womb;
I set you apart before you were born.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:4-5
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!” Psalm 139: 13-17
Comparison. It’s a hard game to play. The rules are kind of jacked and the outcome is always the same. In fact, it’s not fun and there’s no chance you’ll ever win because there will always be someone better. Yet day in and day out our world is filled with opportunities to pick up our phones and play. We see the skin color we wish we were, the boyfriend we wish we had, the perfect body and the beautiful hair. The list goes on and unless we are fighting against it we are subconsciously comparing ourselves to what we see. Comparison starts with seeing something on someone else and ends with picking apart something on ourselves.
I’ve learned a lot through my insecurities and comparison and I’m far from mastering it but I I remember a specific lesson so clearly that I constantly go back to it when the lies of this world creep in. I was staring in the mirror one day, thinking, ‘Why does my nose do that? And ‘why aren’t my cheekbones more defined? Why do I have so many freckles and why are my fingers so fat?’ I know. I know. But I’m a girl and whether or not you admit it, it’s what girls do. The next day though, it was my ankles. That was the chosen part to be picked apart. And I’m glad it was because God taught me something pretty great through those sturdy suckers.
Before I continue I want to let you know I’m going to keep it real here. If other peoples insecurities make you feel more normal than read on cause I’m a hot mess full of a lot of grace from a loving Father. I feel the freedom to be honest because even if I sometimes forget it, I know who He says I am. And because of that I have freedom to live transparently.
On this particular day, I was determine to find exercises that would shrink my ankle bones. I know. I’m a pyscho. (Also if anyone knows any I wouldn’t be opposed to you sending them over). Somebody had made a comment about my legs after I had already had a pretty hard day and I was feeling insecure. But in that moment the Lord was so clear in the thought He gave me.
‘I made you just the way I wanted you. For a purpose. Each detail, uniquely designed for a reason.’
Stopped dead in my tracks I knew I had just found the key to unlock freedom. God has created me. I mean, of course I knew this. But did I really know it? Everyday of my life was planned out before I was born. That means when God, a God with great attention to detail, formed me in my mothers womb He did so with His plan for my life in mind. He knew everyday and what I would need to accomplish His plan. And then He formed me.
Track with me for a second as I walk you through a scenario:
I was always insecure about my big bones. But I now believe they played a large part in my ‘sports career’. I never practiced and I had terrible work ethic but I was aggressive and I could kick a soccer ball harder than any girl I’ve ever met. This allowed for me, in my crazy HS days, to be on a lot of sports teams and get to know a lot of people. They saw me at my worst which means when Jesus grabbed ahold of my heart they desperately wanted to know about this God who had changed me. I had the opportunity to tell so many old teammates about God and His great love for them. But lets be honest, without those sturdy ankles and thunderous thighs I probably wouldn’t have made those teams.
This light hearted example serves as a reminder that there are so many details going on behind the scenes that we have no inkling of. That God is constantly at work orchestrating details in our lives and we won’t fully ever understand. But we can trust Him. We can see His character. Who He was. Who He is and we can trust who He will continue to be. That He is good and He has a great plan. That we are His CREATION. When I make a piece of art and proclaim that it is ‘Very good’ I don’t just throw it away or think it is a waste. I use it with great purpose. We are His prized possession.
Our God is a good God who pays great attention to even the smallest details. I may never know why my knuckles are as large as Jeffs (my husband). But I know I have a good God who designed me with purpose. I may never know why my bones are so big. But I know I have a good God who designed me with purpose. And because I know that Truth I can trust that although I don’t see it He knows and His ways are higher. I can focus on what He has for me rather than what I see in the mirror.
We are His workmanship. His Handiwork. We are His creation. We are His piece of art. Invaluable to Him even when we can’t see it. We were all designed uniquely and perfectly by our Father. We screw things up often but thanks to our sweet Jesus, that does not take away from our value. That doesn’t change how He feels about us.
He created me. All the idiosyncricies. He made me. All of it. Even the parts I don’t like- He made them with a purpose that I may or may not someday see. But I trust Him and I can walk in confidence not because I think everyone will understand and accept me but because He already has. Because He has proclaimed a mighty work over my life. He made me and said ‘it is very good’. When I live out of this place - a place of being infinitely loved by my Maker, I can finally find freedom. Free to be who God has created me to be. When I take my eyes off of myself, or the people around me that I wish I could be more like - I have more time to see Him. To see Him at work in the day to day.
Everything the Lord does is good. Even creating you. It is a practice. A daily fight for us to say no to the lies of comparison and yes to the Truth. But the fight is so worth it because it gets your eyes off of you and others and onto a God and His love that runs deep. And in that we find freedom to be who we were created to be. We get the choice to say ‘I choose You over what the world tells me is true.’ Because putting our trust in this world will always fail us. We will never live up and it will never satisfy. He created you differently then He created the girl you compare yourself to. He gave you both a different purpose. And what a radical love that is, that the God of the universe would appoint a unique purpose to each of His children.
So the next time you look into the mirror, picking out every flaw remember something: remember that God spent time creating you. You might have been unexpected to this world but God planned out every detail of your life long before the world began. He knew what you’d look like; He knew who you’d become. In fact, He knew you’d be reading this right now. So, I’d encourage you not to look at things with merely a human perspective. Realize you have a powerful God, who created this world, and He cares about you. He delights in every aspect of your life. So, my friends, live loved. Remember your value was established before you were born. Your design is unique and hand picked for the specific purpose He has for you. Live in the freedom that comes with knowing the intentionality in ever detail. He chose you. He set you apart. And He gave you purpose. All before you took your first breath.
Written by: Taylor Luckey
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