“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. / Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. / For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
What do you think of when you reflect on the burden of comparison? I’ll tell you what it reminded me of: a heavy, overpacked diaper bag. Let me explain…
How do you pack when you go on a trip? I know with two children I tend to pack a lot. In fact, many times, I find that I have overpacked our diaper bag. I hate when I do that because I’m usually the one that ends up carrying it. Then, when our one-year-old gets tired of being in the stroller, I end up carrying him with the diaper bag. I end up burdening myself down, and it’s funny because all I have to do is strap the diaper bag to the stroller and make my baby ride. Problem solved, right?
The Spiritual Application
Ironically, I do the same thing spiritually. I burden myself down with worldly problems and concerns to the point that I am stressed out. I become overwhelmed with work, kids, family, screen time, social media, church, pleasing others, being a ‘good’ mom, being a ‘good’ wife, and the list goes on. The biggest burden is I start thinking I need to perform a certain way. I need to read to my kids every night, or I’m not a good mother. I need to pack my husband homemade snacks, or I’m not a good wife. If I don’t read my Bible every day, I’m not a good Christian. If my vehicle isn’t as nice as all the other mom cars in the parking lot, then I don’t make enough money. Friend, this is the burden of comparison.
The burden of comparison happens to be the biggest load that we carry around with us today, and a lot of that has to do with social media. We have instant access to everyone else’s lives, and from the screen we’re looking at, their lives appear to be perfect. They’re all dressed up and smiling in their profile pictures, so they look as if they have it all together while I, on the other hand, am scrambling to get the kids out the door on Wednesday night in time.
A Joy-Stealer
Comparison isn’t just a burden, but it is also a joy-stealer. Living without joy turns into a burden for me because it causes me to frequently find myself “down and out.” I’m not happy because comparison has stolen my joy.
What is the best way to combat this burden? Strap the diaper bag to the stroller. In other words, lay your burden down at the foot of the cross. I fall into the comparison game frequently, but when I pray, I let God see how much I hate that part of myself. I don’t want to covet another’s life. By doing so, I’m not being thankful. I need to lay that burden at His feet, be honest with God, and listen for His voice.
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Only Jesus can give my soul the rest that I’m looking for. In verse 29, He goes on to say, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” When I’m tired, I can lean into Him. He’ll take the burdens for me, “for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What are the burdens that you bear? Do you find yourself frequently playing the comparison game with others? Have you lost your joy and thankfulness? Friend, everyone experiences this, but when you get burdened down, lay it all at the feet of Jesus and find rest in Him. Stop comparing and find satisfaction in Him and Him alone.
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