{"id":1348,"date":"2014-06-23T09:41:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T13:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=1348"},"modified":"2014-06-25T12:25:19","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T16:25:19","slug":"the-art-of-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2014\/06\/the-art-of-comparison.html","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The people are taller and more powerful than we are.” Deut. 1:28<\/em><\/p>\n

At the edge of the Promised Land, poised to enter and equipped by God to thrive, the Israelites met the challenge — for there were battles to win — with fear. They compared themselves with the task\u00a0they were facing and quaked in their boots. Demoralized, immobilized they shrank themselves smaller still, threw up their hands and gave up, thinking it far better to go back to slavery than\u00a0face the fact that they themselves were small, ill-equipped, and barely out\u00a0of bondage. They were forgetting Who went with them. Forgetting Who fought for them. Forgetting Who loved them.<\/p>\n

When Paul, on the other hand, met a challenge,\u00a0doomed by the expert sailors to a\u00a0certain death in the eye of a hurricane on the Mediterranean Sea, all he had to say to the crew was this: \u00a0“Take courage! For I believe God.<\/strong> It will be just as he said.”<\/em>\u00a0(Acts 27:25) The whole ship was miraculously saved and Paul went on to his destination in Rome just as God had said he would.<\/p>\n

What are you facing today? Financial crisis? Trials with your children? A doomed marriage? Crumbling health? Pending loss? Hear these words and take them, receiving them as God’s words to you:<\/p>\n

“Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged! Don’t be shocked or afraid! The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do…just as a father cares for his child…Trust the Lord your God, who goes before you…guiding you…” (Deut. 1:21,29,32,33)<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you believe God, my friend? For if you do, nothing will be impossible for you. Believe Him today. Don’t compare yourself with the challenge you are facing. The art of comparison is this: \u00a0compare your\u00a0challenge with the immense greatness of God! There is no comparison! The all-powerful Creator of the universe will fight your battles for you. You don’t have to face them alone.<\/p>\n

“For\u00a0<\/span>nothing\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>impossible with God.”\u00a0Luke 1:27<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The people are taller and more powerful than we are.” Deut. 1:28 At the edge of the Promised Land, poised to enter and equipped by God to thrive, the Israelites met the challenge — for there were battles to win — with fear. 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