Comparison Leads to a Lack of Faith

There is a saying “Comparison is the thief of joy,” but I think even more than joy, comparison is a thief of faith. Comparison blinds us to the blessings that the Lord has already given to us day in and day out. 

God led Moses in freeing the Israelites from slavery and because of their disbelief time and time again, they were punished to wander the wilderness for 40 years. Growing up and reading about the Israelites' unbelief and lack of trust in God always confused me. Even now I wonder how they can see the miraculous work of God and yet still doubt Him. I question how these people can see such miraculous things and still question God and his existence. They complained about the things they didn't have and sought those things on their own away from God. While I look at their situation I hold a high and mighty position, but in reality I cannot count the amount of times I did the exact same thing. How many times do I overlook all that God does in my life that are miraculous and wonder why I am not where I think I want to be or deserve to be. 

Comparison defined is “a consideration or estimate of the similarities or dissimilarities between two things or people.” So it is when you take one thing and analyze it in relation to something or someone else. I compare myself to lots of different things, a celebrity, my brothers, my parents, or my friends. Even more so I compare my life to the life I think I should be living. I have had in my mind what I thought I wanted my life to look like by the age of 25. When we compare ourselves to where we think we should be, or to anything we not only let comparison be the thief of joy but we let comparison be the thief of our faith!

Faith is having a complete trust in something. The word complete means at all times, when things are great and when things don't feel so great. There are things in my life that I have complete trust in, like my phone when I set an alarm to wake me up. I trust that when I set my alarm for a specific time it will go off at that time and wake me up. Even if I sleep through that alarm, I trust it's still going to go off. How do I have complete trust in this, because it has proven to me time and time again that it will do what it is made to do. My faith in God is because I have seen him time and time again do the thing that seemed impossible in my life. Even down to being able to open my eyes in the morning, God has shown he is more than capable to do all things. 

When I compare my life to other people or other things, my faith is weakened. I forget about how much the Lord has brought me to. Then I let lies seep into my mind that the life I desire so badly could never happen to me because it has already happened to those around me. The truth is I have no idea if the life that I desire will be a reality for me one day, but faith is having trust completely, in the known and in the unknown. God knows the desires of my heart and he loves me so deeply. I have complete trust in the Lord, if he blesses me with the desires of my heart I praise Him, but if he doesn't then I will still praise Him. I trust that He knows what is best for me and will give me a heart that is after his will for my life. I combat comparison by remembering it is the not only the thief of joy, but the thief of FAITH.