Obstacle # 2 Comparison

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” John 21:20-22

Looking to the right, looking to the left......another obstacle for me! Where should I be looking?? Straight ahead! At Christ and where He wants ME to be. What a stumbling block it is in our growth, when we compare ourselves to others. Yes, many friends and other Christian women can be of great influence to us. They can serve as wonderful Godly examples, but when it becomes a problem is when when we are looking so much at other people that we are missing what God has for us. We can do this in different ways.

We can stunt our growth from the insecurity that comes with thinking God has blessed someone else greater than us. I believe that a lot of times the enemy intentionally uses jealousy and comparison to distract us from from running with our eyes fixed on Christ. He can also use it in the very opposite sense. He can tempt us to be prideful in thinking that we love Christ more than others, or that we are closet to God than another fellow Christian. Either one is looking to the right or the left, and either one is destructive.
I can at times get frustrated or bitter because another person seems to have it easier than me. How does it make us feel when that other mother's baby is sleeping through the night and your baby is still up every 2 hours, or when your 4 year old is struggling to learn the alphabet when your neighbors child is reading already? I know I have been prone to comparing the behavior of my children quite often to others. I have even said to myself before....."I just wish her kids where like mine for one day so she could see how it is!!" I hate it when I walk through Walmart and see another mom with a child that sits so quietly in the cart and never makes a peep! My boys have SO much energy, and NEVER seem to slow down OR quiet down! The bottom line is, we can get so frustrated when others don't seem to have to go through the same struggles that we do, but what we we should be doing is keeping our eyes on our own cart. God has given each of us our own struggles, and every single one of them is to get use to stay close to Him. I know for a fact that my exhaustively active boys and my sassy 12 year old daughter, keep me on my knees every day.

Lord, help me to always keep my eyes on you and what you want for me. Let me press on through the enemies attempts to make me stumble by looking to the right or left and comparing myself to others.