We Are His Workmanship

My friend is a writer. I mean, a real writer. She has an agent. She's been published. She spends the bulk of her day actually writing.

I'm sure you caught the hint of envy in my voice. Whenever I hear her good news, I am genuinely happy for her, but I can't help but think, "Hey, she has only one child. Of course she's a better writer than me." I think about the few moments when the house is quiet enough for me to think a complete thought. I think about all the times I try to write, in my head, while washing the dishes or driving from Point A to Point B. I think of that someday when I can tackle my writing like a professional.

I am thinking of all the things I am not.

Comparison can be harmless, but it is also sneaky, because it  unlocks the door for your real enemy: envy. And envy can take anyone's happy circumstances (or your own!) and turn it into an arrow aimed for your heart. It can even take a loved one's joy and turn it into a bitter tea.

But it is not a tea that you must drink.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~Ephesians 2:10

God has amazing plans for ALL of us. But they are not all the SAME plans. And the plans may not be what we dream for ourselves. But they are good. And they will lead to more goodness if we follow through with them.

So with this in mind, I need to refocus on the path that God has for me. It is a path of great joy, but only if I don't allow comparison and envy to come and steal away that joy. My 'good works' are here, as a homeschooling mother of six, as a wife of a pastor, as the bearer of Child #7, as a writer, as a missionary to everyone I meet. I will walk in these good works, because I am HIS workmanship.