Have you recall asking your self - "why this person who seem to be so evil is so successful or having great things in life? He/she almost have everything and can do anything. Seem so very happy not to mention very good looking!"
Or we might have said "If I only have this or that..."
Familiar with these ideas? Familiar with the word envy? Todays reminder is about envy. In 1 Corinthians 13:4 it says - Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.
Jesus commanded us to love God and love others but why not envy them? Come to think of it - when we do most likely we would feel pity about ourselves because they seem better than us. When we envy the evil spirit can give us other ideas that leads to questions - doubt - worries - bitterness - up to Sin!
What can we get out of envy? Let us see how Job relate to this problem of ours.
Job 21
4 Is my complaint against a man?
If so, why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled;
put your hands over your mouths.
6 For, when I think about this, I am terrified
and my body feels a shudder.
7 “Why do the wicked go on living,
grow old, even increase in power?
8 Their children are firmly established
in their presence,
their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe and without fear;
and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They allow their children to run like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
13 They live out their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray to him?’
16 But their prosperity is not their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind?
19 You may say, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his children!’
Instead let him repay the man himself
so that he may know it!
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction;
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
21 For what is his interest in his home
after his death,
when the number of his months
has been broken off?
Just like Job there would always be times that we would COMPARE. It is so natural for us to look at other people when we are in a bad situation to seek the feeling of compassion to ourselves that we are not that helpless. In us, we would always wanted to feel good and better off than others or feel not the lowest/the last. If you would think of it - we just want to prove that if they can do it we can also do it (most of the time in material things or achievements). But, God is quite good in teaching us the way of life. To teach us to be humble he would always give us situation to let us feel not even equal to some. And use situation to keep our feet from the ground or give us circumstances that would break our being proud.
Friends, in the same chapter in the book of Job 21:22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges those that are on high?
- Isa 40:13 Who comprehends the mind of the LORD, or gives him instruction as his counselor?
- Rom 11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
- 1 Cor 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him?
God knows everything! His plans might be beyond our comprehension but HE IS ALWAYS in control. If we feel having ENVY let us remind ourselves NOT TO entertain it. Pray to God to remove that idea from us. God knows better. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.
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