Made on Purpose, Not By Comparison

There was this girl named Zara who had a very funny habit… she kept trying to be like everyone except herself.

If she saw a girl who could sing, she would suddenly walk around the house humming loudly, pretending she had the same voice… even though she couldn’t hold a note for more than two seconds.

If she met someone who was really athletic, she would put on her sneakers and try running around the yard, only to give up halfway because she was out of breath and questioning all her life choices.

One afternoon, after watching a girl online do flawless makeup, Zara sat in front of a mirror with her mother’s makeup bag. Ten minutes later she looked at her reflection and whispered,
“Why do I look like a confused rainbow?”
She wiped it all off in defeat.

Later that week, she met a girl with beautiful curly hair. By the next morning, Zara had tried twisting, braiding, and curling her own hair in an attempt to match it. When she finished, she stared into the mirror again and sighed,
“This isn’t even curly. This looks chaotic.”

One evening, after yet another failed attempt at being someone else, Zara flopped onto her bed, tired and frustrated. Her grandmother walked in, saw the distress on her face, and asked gently,
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Zara burst out,
“I don’t know who to be! Everyone else seems so amazing. I keep trying to be like them, but nothing works.”

Her grandmother smiled, sat beside her, and said the words that changed everything:

“Flowers don’t bloom by copying other flowers. They bloom by being themselves.”

Zara blinked.
“What does that even mean?”

Grandma chuckled softly.
“It means the world needs your voice, your gifts, your look, your story… not your imitation of someone else’s. God made you with care. When you try to be everyone else, you forget how wonderfully He made you.”

That night, as Zara lay in bed, she repeated the verse her grandmother had written and placed on her pillow:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb… I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” - Psalm 139:13–14

She whispered to herself,
“So maybe… being me is enough.”

And for the first time in a long time, Zara smiled at the thought of simply being herself: the girl God made on purpose, with purpose.