Contentment and Comparison: A message from God

I find it so amazing each time I hear God speaking to me so clearly when I ask to hear from Him. This is why it's so important after prayer, to free your mind of distracting thoughts and to really just sit in silence after you pray. Prayer is communication between you and God. When we're finished we're not supposed to get up and leave, but be still and wait to see if there is anything that He wants to say in return.

About a month an a half ago I was rushing off to a meeting and feeling bummed because I didn't have time to pray and have my quiet time prior to leaving the house in the evening. I knew the meeting would end late and I knew I'm not very receptive to hearing God when I'm tired (because I clearly would want to sleep). As I was driving the Lord placed a thought in my spirit "why don't we talk now?". That actually made perfect sense. Why not? I was in the car by myself, I could turn the music off and be in complete silence in the car and I was a 25 minute drive away from my destination so we'd have all that time together. It wasn't my ideal quiet space but it would work.  I started to talk to Him about a lot of things on my mind and I wanted to share what He told me since I think this can apply to anyone who reads this

You are not called to be like other Christians. You are are called to me like Me, Christ. Others talent may not be your talent. Others strengths may not be your strength, but at the same time their weaknesses are not your weakness. You are all a part of one body. Just because you are a different part of the body doesn't make you less than anyone else nor does it make you better than anyone else. The head cannot function without the foot, the hand cannot fully function without the fingers. You are important. You are uniquely made. You are a designer original. I created no one else like you. How awesome is that? Be yourself and embrace it!

A highway is made of many lanes, stay in yours. Stop comparing your life and success, or lack there of, with others. Everyone has a lane. I desire some people to be in the fast lane and some in the slow lane. I desire some people to get off at exit 5 and others to get off at exit 25, that's okay. Your blessing is for you and you alone. No one in the world can keep you from your blessing except yourself.  

It's okay if you're not married yet and it's okay if you don't have children yet. Stop allowing people to make you feel like you should not be content because you don't have those things yet. My child, be happy and content with who, what and where you are. You are exactly where I want you you to be.

Whew! A few things about this:

1) There were some parts of God's response to me that I didn't even verbally talk to Him about in that prayer but He responded anyway because He knew what was in my heart and what I struggle with. How amazing is it that? He gives you answers to things you don't even verbally ask for at time. So cool.

2) This happened in the beginning of December. The first paragraph in which He referenced one body many parts was actually going to be the theme of my church for 2014. Our theme this year in Symphony: many instruments, one orchestra -- many parts, one body. It's custom for my church to keep the theme a secret until watch night service (12/31) so I had no clue. Even thought they announced it at watch night I personally didn't know until I returned to the U.S. on 1/12/14. Talk about confirmation!

3) I learned that I can pray anywhere. This is something that I already knew but it was just a friendly reminder for me. Of course it would be a ideal for me to be in my house where I have my designated quiet space but it's important to not get caught up in the mechanics of everything. I have a relationship with Christ and if it turns out I can't be in my quiet space, a car or wherever I am is perfectly fine. As long as I talk to Him.

4) I also learned that God can talk to you anywhere at any time. Again, this is something that I already knew but was a great reminder. He relayed the first half of this message to me while I was still driving. When I got to my meeting, I parked, pull out my notebook and quickly wrote down what He said so that I wouldn't forget then went into my meeting to get trained. In the middle of the training as I was learning about leadership, I heard God say "I'm not finished yet". I was...surprised to say the least and thought this was the funniest thing ever. I actually giggled to myself. Here I was in this meeting and God shows up with complete disregard of what I'm learning and begins to speak again. I mean... He can do that though, haha. Needless to say I didn't hear the rest of the training because I was busy writing down the rest of what God wanted me to hear.

This message was definitely right on time for me. If any of you are struggling with experiencing true contentment in Christ and find yourself comparing your life to others...I hope this blesses you.

Until next time,

Tasha