Why Everything in the World Competes with God (But Nothing Will Compare)

There is so much in life competing for our attention but Marisa Connelly reminds us that God’s love surpasses all. Just like Rebecca Simon Finding God Every Daychanging our focus from the temporal to the eternal allows us to embrace a faith that is incomparably fulfilling. Read on to see how God’s love rises above all else.

There is much competition with God—the pace of this life, temporary pleasures, media, evil, distractions, news.

Every morning, we are filled with images, words, thoughts, and ideas that try to take us away from Him: messages on television that focus only on the brokenness around us, celebrities living selfish lives, products that promise perfection, social media that encourages us to always focus on selfish things. compare compare.

We feature photos of people who seem to have it all figured out—big families, perfect bodies, happiness plastered on their faces with a few Photoshop touches. We scroll through social media and instantly feel like we’re lacking in comparison to the parties, the lavish lifestyle, the material things that others have and we don’t.

It is very difficult, sometimes, to simply be human, let alone to be a follower of the faith. It is very difficult to find appreciation for who you are and where you are going when there is so much around you that makes you feel like you will never measure up.

There are people who live lives full of sin, gluttony, violence and complete disregard for God’s promises—and yet, on the outside they appear perfectly righteous. So you can’t help but wonder if you’re doing something wrong. (You are not.)

Everything competes with God. The taste of alcohol on our tongues. The temptation of drugs, or a life full of parties and excitement and being on time. The latest trends, the ‘good,’ or the ‘best life’ we are encouraged to live. Social media standards of beauty, love. The desire to control, carve out your path and follow it.

All this makes faith look like a hindrance, rather than a blessing. Like a set of restrictive rules instead of a life beyond what we could imagine.

But the truth is that God’s plan is much bigger than the temporary satisfaction of this world, much bigger than drinking alcohol, fancy clothes, bodies we only care about for a while, crazy parties that end in the morning.

Following God is not something that leaves you full of self-love and comparison, scrolling through your stories to see what everyone else is doing, and trying to figure out how you should feel when you compare.

Following God is not a competition, it is not a fleeting pleasure, it is not something that can consume you badly and leave you empty, and still yearning to be filled.

Following God is not about the things of this world, but about Him and His sacrifice. How He gave His Son so that nothing we face in this passing life can be more important than His undying love for us.

He knew that we would be caught in our sin, our wickedness, our mistakes, and the temptations around us. He knew we would struggle and lose our way. He knew we were (and always will be) imperfect.

But we His own imperfect people, His own creation.

So He gave us everything we could possibly want (and more) with His love—a promise that whatever we face in this life may compete for a while, but it will never compare to the passion and glory of surrendering to Him.

Much of this life will try to distract us, try to take us away from God’s truth. More will look shiny, look perfect, like what we really want. But we will not allow ourselves to be deceived.

Being a person of faith is about seeing the temporary nature of these desires, being empty of worldly pleasures and going to Him instead. Allowing him to fill us, rather than last long. Allowing Him to build beauty and strength within us, until we are no longer distracted by things that don’t matter—like Photoshopped images, like material things, like ‘perfection’ that doesn’t even exist.

Many things compete with our Father’s love, but in the end, nothing compares.

His sacrifice, His passion, His devotion, His truth—in the end, that’s all we’ll ever need.