"Other"

Some days I wake up just wanting to be someone or something other than what I am.  I have a desire to walk in someone else’s shoes.  Be in someone else’s skin.  Feel someone else’s emotions.  Write someone else’s story. I see others as being more healthy & fit, more qualified, more talented, more patient, more interesting, younger with more energy, more attractive, happier, better house, nicer car, bigger ranch, more cattle.  That other marriage looks better than mine.  The other moms seem to have it more together.  That other woman is so much further ahead in pursuing her passions.  That other girl still has her mom.  Some days I just long to be someone other than me.

I know it’s crazy.  I know that it makes no sense ...to want to live someone else’s life other than my own. Because I know that I know that I know that I have a wonderful life and I couldn’t want for more.  And yet don’t we all do this?  Compare and contrast?  Yesterday Pastor Matt spoke on envy; on the trap of comparison that we often find ourselves in.  Especially in this day and age of social media where other people's lives are front and center 24/7.  We can sure get caught up in wanting something other than what we have!  And yet, as Pastor Matt shared yesterday, envy is not only a trap that will get us stuck & miserable; it’s a sin!  We want what the other person has and we completely lose sight of what God has given us!  Envy always starts with comparison.  We all fall into comparing ourselves with others.  Comparison itself isn’t the sin, but it will most definitely lead to envy if we don’t watch and avoid the trap of it! And envy is a disease that will rot our bones, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”  Boy is that true!

If we could just get out of the comparison trap, and submit our lives to God, allowing Him to do in us and in our lives, our families, our talents, our passions, our jobs, our hobbies, our friendships and our ministries, what only He can do; then peace will follow, along with a good dose of contentment.  Instead of focusing on “others”....I choose to focus on God and know that He is doing a good work in me.