and how to avoid it!
When our youngest daughter moved out of the house last summer, I couldn’t bear the echo of her empty bedroom, so I made fast tracks into turning the room into an office for myself.
A desk, rug, and couch did much to erase the lonesome echo, and I began to treasure it as my quiet space for dreams, solace, and meditation. And of course, it is where I write.
I was happily ensconced in my little “nest” the other day, with my Bible, notebooks, and research papers scattered around me. A most necessary little fan cooled me with its gentle breeze. Life felt exhilarating, and my spirit light-hearted.
Until I picked up my phone.
Quite out of habit, I hit the (sometimes accursed) FB app button and began to scroll. Within a few seconds, I was reading a beautifully crafted article, and as I soaked up the words, I was filled, not with the intended comfort and encouragement, but rather… despair.
It took only seconds for my mind to do a rubber-screeching one-eighty. I threw down my phone and wailed to the Lord, “There’s no point in writing anymore. No way can I ever write anything as well as that woman does.”
I recognized the snare immediately. I’d been lured into it many times before, this comparison trap, and it never yielded good results. I didn’t want to be caught in its brutal teeth again, but my inner feet and my brain felt like lead. How could I escape?
Like always, the Spirit heard my whining, and He lost no time setting me straight.
“Wait a minute! Didn’t I just give you your orders early this morning? What was the verse that jumped off the page when your eyes were bleary and you waited for the coffee to wake you up?”
I didn’t need to look at the verse a second time to know what it said, but I turned to the words of King David in Psalm 144:1 and read them anyway.
“Praise be to the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
Since the beginning of my writing journey, the Lord has frequently reminded me that I am involved in an unseen battle as I put pen to paper, documenting His faithfulness in a way that I hope will encourage others.
And in the pre-dawn’s shadowy light, He’d whispered to me that He was training my hands and my fingers to do battle as a writer.
He knew that I was going to face this familiar stumbling block, and He was preparing a way of escape ahead of time. I just needed to take hold of it.
And so, I reached out and embraced Jesus’s gentle reprimand.
“I didn’t create you to be her, I created you to be you.”
Perhaps you’ve felt the comparison trap’s ankle-biting grip a time or two in your own life?
If so, the promise He whispered to me is one He whispers to you too.
“Don’t compare yourself to another. Be content to let me train your hands and fingers for the battle you will face. For the work I have planned for you to do.”
You might not be using your fingers to write devotionals or storybooks, but if I were a betting person, I’d bet any money He’s called your hands to do something for His kingdom.
And the job He’s called you to do might not look as perfect or as glamorous as someone else’s. You’ll likely have days when your hard work produces more pain than accomplishment.
It’s that way for me. Some days my fingers, especially my thumbs, ache from the writing, and nothing comes out the way it sounds in my head.
But, my friend, I’ve discovered it’s all part of the training.
Ask any soldier, especially an elite one like King David. He’ll tell you that constant training is essential for success.
Soldiers are never “trained”; they are only ever “in training.”
And so are we.
God has a personalized training program laid out for each of us.
Yours won’t look the same as the person you admire because Jesus doesn’t want to train you for that person’s calling.
He wants to train you for yours, just like He’s training me for mine.
So, take courage, my friend! Embrace the battle and give the comparison trap a wide berth. If you do…
“I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Jesus Christ returns.” Philippians 1:6 NLT
As always,
You are always seen, never alone, and absolutely loved!!
Esther