"I Ain't Got It All That Bad"

I'm currently reading this great little devotional book that my mom bought for me, called Faith Deployed.  Each reading begins with a Scripture passage and has some thoughts written by a one of fourteen military wives who contributed to the book and then ends with a few reflective questions and a short prayer.  I have been so encouraged by a lot of the readings, and several of them have spoken to issues that have been on my heart recently.  Every time I read one of those, I think about blogging about it, but usually never get around to it.  SJ is just ate and is napping now, so I think I'll have enough time to try to put some of those thoughts together!

So frequently, and I've noticed this especially among the young military community, we tend to get into arguments of "I have it worse than you do."  I think it stems from a pride issue, as if somehow we're better because our situation is harder?  I don't really understand the reasoning behind the thought process, but I know I am also guilty of falling into that kind of thinking.  It is completely unbiblical to think that way though!

In a reading entitled Comparing Trials, Jocelyn Green shares a story where she too found herself caught in that trap, and then writes:

     "I carried my 'I have it worse than you' attitude home with me that day.  I snuggled up to it to make myself feel more virtuous or worthy somehow.  But the tighter I held onto it, the less Christ was able to use me.  I used my own trials as something to be proud of.  What a ridiculous thing to boast about!
     "Proverbs 14:10 says, 'The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.'  When I read that verse, it seems to tell me that each person's burden causes him or her a pain that should not be dismissed just because someone else has it worse.  It is impossible and worthless to compare trials.  A truly humble person would have compassion and bear others' burdens no matter how they 'rank' next to my own.
     "In Galatians 6:2, Paul does not say, 'Bear one another's burdens only if you deem the burden of significant magnitude.  If it isn't a big deal to you, go ahead and let your sister in Christ figure it out on her own.  She'll get over it.'  We are to 'bear one another's burdens'--period.
     "...if anyone had the right to consider other people's complaints as petty, Jesus did.  Jesus knew he would die a horrific death on the cross to pay for the sins of those who put Him there--and yet He took time to comfort and heal thousands of people with lesser trials.  May we seek to model Jesus' humility and compassion in our own lives."

In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul wrote that God had given him a thorn in his flesh in order to keep him from boasting.  His trial was given to keep him humble, and yet so often we boast about our trials!

The fact that M was deployed for SJ's birth and will miss the first few months of her life sucks, there's no sugarcoating that.  It's hard and I get lonely and tired and I wish he could be here, but whining and complaining about his absence isn't going to do a swingin' thing to bring him home.  It will make me feel even worse though.  I appreciate the compliments that several of my fellow Navy wives have given me praising my strength, but I can't take credit for that strength.  It is tempting to boast both about how hard this situation is and about how strong I am for getting through it, but neither of those options glorify God and they certainly don't give credit where credit is due.  It is only through Christ that I am able to keep such a positive attitude.  I pray that I don't ever take the credit myself and always remember to point back to God in times like this.