Loving Your Life When You Wish You Were Living Someone Else’s.

Sometimes life is less than what we hoped for. We hate our job, our marriage is crumbling, we’re single, we’re sick, we’re lonely, we’re depressed. We see other people’s lives on social media and at church and what they have seems so perfect. It’s so easy to wish for their lives over our own.

“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel” ~Steve Furtick~

This could not be more true.

Do you ever wish for someone else’s life? Their perfect marriage? Their health? Their beautiful house in the country? Their perfect bikini bod?

I have.

There will always be times in our life where all we can see is our mess, and those are the times where it’s most important to love our lives.

It can be so very dangerous to live in desire of what someone else has, and it can be so hard not to do so. I’ve found that once I get caught in that pattern of thinking, it’s hard to come out of it.

So then how do you love your own life when someone else’s seems so much better? How do you attend a wedding when you are in the midst of divorce? How do you pray for your friend’s bout with the flu when you are dying. How do you go shopping with your best friend when she is 5 sizes smaller than you? How do you love your apartment when everyone else seems to have a beautiful house?

Do you believe that what you have is God’s best for you? Do you believe in His perfect plan? Is it possible that regardless of what you think your life should look like, He has known all along what it would be?

My friend Joanna is battling cancer and all the emotional and physical pain that comes with it. She is a beautiful warrior who teaches me things every day. We’ve talked often about God’s plan, how He has put everything in to place for Joanna and her family before her diagnosis. How He knew all along that this was her path and has been preparing her for this her entire life.

What an amazing God that is. Who hand picks everything in our lives to work together for His good. And sometimes that means that we have cancer, or we live in a teeny apartment, or we are a size 10. Can we trust Him in the path he has handpicked for us?

This isn’t to say that life isn’t hard, that we don’t struggle with our journeys, that they aren’t incredibly difficult at times. No on would argue that life is hard. But God is in control, of every little thing.

Having struggled with anxiety for most of my life, I become angry at times that it crushes me sometimes. I’ve often asked God what His deal is, plaguing me with this. If you’ve ever struggled with anxiety you know what I’m talking about. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that my anxiety is God’s way of protecting me from a life without Him. If I didn’t struggle with something that is so out of my control I don’t think I would seek the love and peace of my Savior so desperately.

So my friends, trust in God’s plan for your life. It may not be easy, it may be excruciating, but know that His perfect plan is unfolding in every little part of your life.