A text message buzzed: “They offered me the job . . . and I ACCEPTED!”
Everything in me celebrated! I had prayed for this job for her, had begged our Father to give it to her. My friend and I had been in very similar seasons. We had walked through a year of uncertainty, of unclear paths, of unanswered questions. We had both heard a lot of no. And now she had her yes.
I texted back approximately a thousand celebratory emoticons.
Then I looked up at our Father and whispered, “What about me?”
Because I was still waiting for a job.
My mind drifted back to that morning’s sunrise. I had woken up to the most beautiful sunrise out my bedroom window. I had even Instagrammed the photo with the caption:
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.”
{Lamentations 3:22-25}
Great is His faithfulness. I believed it. I also felt like the daughter who was really excited about the new pen her dad had given her. Until he gave her sister a brand new car.
Our Father gave me a sunrise.
And then He gave her a job.
Everyone tells us that “comparison is the thief of joy.” But when your sister holds the keys to a brand new car, it’s very hard to be grateful for your shiny pen.
So I did the only thing I knew to do. I took that pen to paper, and I wrote my heart out to God. Told Him I was excited for her. Told Him I was grateful for His faithfulness to her. Told Him I was so thankful for the friendship that had been forged in that season. And I meant it! Then I told Him that I felt like He had forgotten me — that I felt very left out.
And another message from her popped up: “I’m listening to Good, Good Father and bawling my eyes out.”
That was the song we had clung to for the better part of four months: “He’s a good, good Father . . . and I’m loved by Him.” And you’re loved by Him. She had reminded me. I had reminded her. And somehow, that day, He found a way to remind us both. I turned on that song, and suddenly I was bawling my eyes out too.
I let the Lord meet me with comfort where He had not yet met me with answers.
Something shifted in that moment. I knew that the answer to comparison was to see that His faithfulness to my sister was a confirmation of His goodness. Because a good Father who is faithful to one daughter is faithful to every daughter.
A good Father who is faithful to her is faithful to me.
So I stopped comparing her job to my sunrise. And I started letting her job and my sunrise testify together of the goodness of our Father.
We have a Father who gave my sister what she needed and wanted! We have a Father who woke me with a reminder of His love that very same day. And His faithfulness to her only confirms His faithfulness to me.
When your sister lands a job and you get a sunrise? When she rocks a baby and you ache with longing? When a ring is slid onto her finger and you go home alone? When she gets a yes and you get a no?
When you both asked the same Father?
What then? What if His faithfulness to her is His promise to you — not that He will answer you the same way that He answered her. But that He will answer. That He does hear.
That He is a good, good Father. And that you are so very loved by Him.
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Related: This Hope Letterpress Block Set can be displayed in your home or office as an encouraging reminder that God fills our hearts with hope!
Leave a Comment
Brittnie Blackburn says
“I let the Lord meet me with comfort where He had not yet met me with answers.” So powerful! Thank you for writing this beautiful message!
Erin Smith says
Thank you for this! I often find myself comparing….it is so silly. My life is not the life anyone else has so why should I expect to have the same answers as a friend or sister? The only thing any of us should be focused on is our relationship with the Father and He is SO good all of the time to give us sunrises all around is if we are looking. Thank you for putting your shiny pen to good use!☺️
Barbara Paddock says
Thank you for your inspiring truth! Our Father is good and faithful. Thank you for this reminder. I am praying you get the perfect job our Perfect Father has lined up for you!
Anna Smit says
Oh how easy it is to let comparison rob our joy. Thank you for sharing your true feelings and these encouraging words. What spoke to me was part of the Scripture you shared: “I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ ” I see that sunrise as a Gift of Hope. And so true that in the waiting and drawing near, He comforts, if we let Him. It makes me think of how my daughter shared of a dog trying to jump up on her and the owner drawing him back: I responded by saying what a good owner that was. And it made me reflect on God as the good “owner” of our souls: how He pulls me back at times. I saw that this morning, as in running alone in the forest I reflected on how I’d allowed the loud noise around me to drown out His Voice, Word and Love. And that loud noise can come through comparison, inner fears and even conflicting witnesses, but only if we let it become noisy, by failing to rest in Him. Thank you for these words.
Rebecca Jones says
I compared myself to others, and one day the Holy Spirit reminded me. ” You are not in competition, you are in Christ. ” I’ve been the one with a pen, and I know how to use it. Great story!
Jenny B says
Wow…I can’t even begin to express how this hits home for me because I am in the exact same season and a similar comparison situation. Thank you for sharing, I really needed that perspective on it!!
Beth Williams says
Cody,
So hard not to play the comparison game! Remember God will answer ALL prayers in His perfect timing! When He sees you are ready for _____ then He will give it to you! We should be hyper focused on God and His unfailing love!!
Blessings 🙂
Kristi says
Thank you for this: “So I stopped comparing her job to my sunrise. And I started letting her job and my sunrise testify together of the goodness of our Father.”
Beautiful truth.
sandi ackerman says
I am very warmed by your sharing. Comparison not only robs joy, it will blindfolds obedience. You do not see the wonder in the gifts given to you in the exact make up of who you are nor do you see the wonder of the gifts you have to offer in the exact make up of who you are. God has been dealing with both sides of this coin in my life. Thank you for your sharing this real vulnerability. God is Good.