I know we’re not the only family on the planet that constantly tries to figure out who the “favorite” child is. I always tell my mom that it’s my brother. Rylan and McKenna will tell everyone that Peyton’s the favorite. Peyton always tells everyone that McKenna’s the favorite. Today, I was calling Peyton’s dogs “1st Favorite” and “2nd Favorite” instead of their names, and Emily suggested I call them McKenna and Peyton and see what the kids say!
Needless to say, there are no favorite children. Except my brother…he’s definitely my mom’s favorite.
Imagine how it would look if we pulled this with God. Whether we care to admit it or not, there may have been times in our lives where we’ve watched other Christians receive answers to prayers or blessings that were needed or desired. While we have been happy for those people to see God at work, there may have been some kind of jealousy that our requests still go unanswered. Life just doesn’t seem quite as fair as what the other person “received.”
I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve been there. It’s a human response to covet what other people have, even answers to prayers, both big and small. But the Bible tells us that to covet is to sin. When we covet what our Christian brothers and sisters receive from Christ, it tends to blind us to how God is answering our prayer or working in our own lives. The focus isn’t just on what they have, but rather what we DON’T have. When that happens, we miss the forest for the trees.
God’s answer for you will not be the same answer He gives someone else. We are all individual children of God, equally loved and specially set apart. He knows what is best for each of us as any Good Father does and works in our lives to fulfill what we need that will bring glory to Him.
We don’t have to compete with others to be the apple of God’s eye. He tells us that when we accept Him as our Savior, we become His son or daughter. He doesn’t love one of us more than the other. We all belong to Him!
~Erin
Iron Porch 