To compare or not to compare...

Today, do you feel discouraged? Do you see others having success at all levels and wonder when it will be your turn?

We all know we are special creations, unique and precious to God. Yet why do we struggle with comparing our lives, our bodies, our kids, our talents (or lack of talents) with others?

I do this with my writing. I look at the best-seller's list with longing. I consider the "big" advances and media fan-fare that some authors receive, and sigh.

I do this with myself. How come my friend can eat anything she wants and stay slim? Why do I have to walk and watch what I eat just to maintain?

I do this with so many areas of my life, "How come?" "What if?" "Why?" In reality, we (me included) need to look past who we "dream" to be and consider God's dreams instead.

In God’s word, we read: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: ‘Exactly as I planned, it will happen. Following my blueprints, it will take shape,” says Isaiah 14:24 (The Message).

The word “planned” here is translated “compare.” It’s as if God has weighed the different possibilities, looked at them from all angles, and then chose the best way. He makes the blueprints . . . then He constructs them into our reality.

The life we have is the one constructed for us. It's not the life, body, health, or circumstances we wished we’d had. Or the perfect life we can never attain. But the blueprints and the form He is transforming into reality.

“Remember your history, your long and rich history. I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—from the beginning telling you what the ending will be, all along letting you in on what is going to happen, amazing you,” we read in Isaiah 46:10-11. “I’m in this for the long haul, I’ll do exactly what I set out to do.” (The Message)

It’s okay to have longings. But even before we worry about what we desire for our lives, the first step is to not let our dreams motivate us, but instead let His.

God has longings for us even greater than we imagine, and He’s willing to tell us these things as we seek Him out.

Will you seek Him today? Pray. Open your heart. And dare to listen to God's dreams for you.