Joy In The Mundane.

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Comparison is a constant for me, but I know my life wasn’t meant to be led by anything other than the joy of knowing who I am in Christ. So often, I find it far easier to see Jesus in everyone else’s life. Psalm 73 talks about this mindset. When we are focused on the way that the Lord is blessing everyone else we aren’t giving Him access to show us the beautiful things He is doing in us.“No doubt about it! God is good – good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing His goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.” Psalm 73: 1-5 MSGHe is always working. He is constantly doing a new thing in me, and I know that what He wants to do will only become greater when I realize that He wants to use me, bless me, and love me just as much as everyone else that I’m comparing myself to.Social media is a great advocate for comparison. It gives us the opportunity to portray the best aspects of our lives and pretend that these amazing events are a daily norm. We can scroll through an Instagram feed and see all the ‘highs’ of someone’s life. It’s easy to assume that everyone elses' life is perfect while we are struggling with the mundane tasks of day-to-day life.In reality life is full of mundane tasks, harsh disappointments, and an abundance of failures. But I’ve learned that the Lord has a way of bringing beauty to these messy things. When we invite Him into these areas of life that seem too far-gone he brings clarity in the best way.I want to see my life through the lens of the one who gave me life. He gave it as a gift, and our Heavenly Father can only give good gifts. There is beauty and joy in the mundane when we are doing the mundane for the glory of God. There is success in our failures when we surrender our shame to the One who already bore it on the cross. There is contentment in the disappointment when we ask for His perspective, and we give him the opportunity to gently remind us that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him.I’ve found that knowing this is one thing, but it’s another to actually walk it out. The Lord is taking me through a season of learning. Learning how to do things because I want to instead of doing what everyone else thinks I should be doing. Learning to walk confidently in who the Lord has created me to be and calling out the beauty I see in others, instead of wishing I were more like ‘that’. It’s a process, and I’m learning that, but I know that when I give Him access, He will teach me how to align my eyes with His, and He will give me the ability to see the way He sees. That’s who He is and that’s what He’s promised! His desires for my life are pure freedom and abundant joy, but though He provides these things richly, I still have to choose it. I have to choose His perspective daily. I have to choose to walk in the opposite spirit of comparison, which is so much easier with His eyes. He doesn’t compare His children. He intricately and purposefully designed each and every one of us (Psalm 139:15) exactly the way we needed to be. He makes no mistakes. Who am I to question the God of the Universe and His intentions? He delights in me because I am who He wanted me to be. So I choose contentment over comparison. I am beginning to truly know who I am in Christ Jesus, and this truth is so, so sweet, my friends.words by Kirsten Larson and photo by Hannah Jin