Yesterday I needed to pop to a supermarket to get some things for lunch as our friends were coming over and I was low on things I had planned to cook. Short of time, I did what I call my “brisk walk.” (That’s the one which leaves me breathless and a bit hotter than I care to be.) Lets call it my “flustered walk” if you will.

In mid flow of said pony trot, I was slightly perturbed to see an elderly lady overtake me at what seemed to me to be an (insert hashtag) *leisurely stroll. She did not seem to be panting for oxygen, nor was she glowing with beads of perspiration. She was twice my age and moving twice as fast – with ease. I won’t lie. I was a tad miffed.

I was doing my ‘flustered walk’ for heaven’s sake! She, however, was meandering along! And yet still beating me, by a country mile. In sensible Clarks shoes too.

Grr.

Her speed seemed to highlight my lack of speed.

Then I looked at her legs. They were lengthy and each of her strides encompassed at least two of mine. (I am small of stature and short of leg and, was by this time, also short of breath.)

God spoke to me very simply through this picture. He told me not to try and compete with someone who has longer legs than me. You might not think that is a profound truth…. but it was for me. I smiled internally (as my lack of breath did not permit an actual smile) and wiped a little sweat from my forehead.

I returned to that simple picture today in my quiet time and pondered it some more. So many of us (women especially, but not just us) lose HOURS of our lives wishing we had hair like so and so, or skin like so and so, or legs like that, or house decor like her, or a sewing talent like her… but we must run/speed walk/meander our own race!

Do something for me. Read back over that last paragraph. I bet you it wouldn’t be hard for you to find someone in your life who fits each of those categories! We are too good at comparing ourselves with others and it does us no good whatsoever! We are not meant to be imitations of others… Why? Because of the L-IMITATIONS of that. We are so limited when we try and look act or perform like someone other than ourselves. Its totally against the job description we were given at birth! I am alive to be Ems Hancock. You are not. You are on earth to be the only you there will ever be.

I have identical twins. Genetically they are meant to be the SAME. But you will never meet two more different boys in your life. One of them wants to sing musicals at the top of his voice, the other wants to learn how to use a gun so that he can shoot people who sing musicals.

They are different. And both amazing.

In the body of Christ there is not meant to be any competition. We are not meant to try and outdo one another and congratulate ourselves for being a more dynamic speaker or a better hostess, or a more effective- time-efficient-home-maker. Nor should we waste precious minutes comparing ourselves negatively (as we so often do) and think of ourselves as less beautiful, effective, talented or used by God than someone else we know. It is simply not true. It is damaging for us and others and it plays right into the hands of the enemy.

The truth is that someone somewhere would pay for your problems right now! They would love your life, they would love your body, your face, your clothes, your house and your kids. They would pay for your issues and your insecurities. Why? Because they would see your life as so much better than their own. The grass so often looks greener. (And that’s coming from a woman with an Astro turfed lawn.)

When we look at others we don’t see what God sees. He looks at the heart, we look at the hair style. He looks at the prayer life, we look at the Instagram photos. He looks at the inner purity, we look at the Facebook page.

We also don’t look at OURSELVES the way God sees us. Sometimes we only see where we are failing, flailing and falling.

Can I encourage you today to look at yourself and ENJOY what God has given you? Can I also implore you to look at others and ENJOY what God has given them, without desiring it yourself?

Christine Caine wrote something like this recently, “As the body of Christ we are not meant to compete with each others. We are meant to COMPLETE each other.” Adding that ‘L” is really key.

So who can you add to today? Who can you ‘complete’?

Team up and plant yourself next to someone who needs your skills. Go on my friend. Don’t LIMIT yourself. Complete someone instead!