We read in Hebrews 13:5, Don't love money. Be happy with what you have because God has said, "I will never abandon you or leave you." (GW)
One of the crucial emotions that a majority of people struggle with, is that of jealousy, though many feel uncomfortable to accept this fact. If we can understand on the basis of God’s word, as to how we can deal with this strong emotion called jealousy, and conquer it, we will for sure experience tremendous changes in our lives.
Envied by Society
The Philistines were jealous of Isaac
We read in Genesis 26:14, “Because he owned so many flocks, herds, and servants, the Philistines became jealous of him.” (GW)
When the Philistines saw Isaac flourishing, and observed that he owned numerous flocks, herds and servants, they became envious of him. These Philistines were not paupers, but had more than enough. However, when they observed the bounteous blessings on Isaac, their hearts were filled with jealousy.
Have you noticed how, often we too have more than enough, there is no real need in our lives and yet when there is someone doing a little better than us, we are often gripped with this feeling of envy. In our culture they generally refer to a jealous person, as someone casting the envious or evil eye on someone else’s thing or property. You may have seen someone building a beautiful house, who will place a scarecrow like figure with a pot on its head for all to see, intending to ward off the evil eye of others, as they believe that the eye of envy, would have ill effects on their building plans.
It is a fact that the human nature is such that we never compare ourselves with someone who is doing not so well, but always with those who are doing far better than us. When we entertain such thoughts, we miss out on the blessings that are ours, and are filled instead with feeling of envy. No one can say I am exempt from this feeling of jealousy, because the heart of man is such that, when he considers others who are excelling in any way, his natural reaction, is to be overwhelmed with this sense of jealousy.
The secret for Isaac’s prosperity
We read in Genesis 26:12, “Isaac sowed crops in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the LORD blessed him.” (GNB)
When Isaac sowed crops in the land, a land stricken with famine, he harvested a hundred times what he had sown, simply because the Lord blessed him immensely. The Philistines failed to realize that if they too worshipped the living God, and lived in obedience to Him, they too would have been blessed like Isaac.
The word of God promises in Proverbs 10:22, “the blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” (ESV) It is vital that we truly desire the blessings that come from the Lord, and are satisfied with them, instead of comparing ourselves with those who are faring better than us. Jealousy is a dangerous emotion that we must be cautious about. Once jealousy takes hold, all that we possess will seem trivial, and everything that others have will seem colossal. It will rid us of the peace and joy that we could otherwise enjoy.
The ramifications of jealousy
We read in Proverbs 14:30, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”(ESV)
One of the translations says jealousy is like bone cancer, as it corrodes into the bones of a person. It is the bones that give shape to our bodies, and if the bones are not in place, we will become shapeless. That’s exactly what jealousy can do to us, it can deform our lives. However, a tranquil heart says Proverbs 14:30 will give life to the flesh. A tranquil heart refers to someone who is leading a peaceful, and normal life. While a serene person is able to discern between good and bad, a person ruled by envy has the soundness of his mind destroyed.
If we are compelled with feelings of envy, we must sincerely seek the Lord’s help, to get rid of it, and replace it with a heart of contentment. Let me give you an example from our everyday life. A family has a good television set, and are quite happy with is. One day they notice that their neighbor has bought a bigger, and better television set than the one they own. All of a sudden, the TV that they enjoyed in their home for so long, looks paltry. When envy takes control, it also does not want the other person to enjoy what they have been blessed with, but strangely seeks its ruin.
The Philistines destroy all the wells
Jealousy incites people to do wrong
We read in Genesis 26:15, “So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.” (GNB)
The Philistines were so envious of the way Isaac was abounding that they decided to hamper his progress. Isaac’s father Abraham had dug many wells in his time, to water the flock and his fields which Isaac also enjoyed. The Philistines who did not comprehend that God was the reason for Isaac’s expansion and decided to stop all the wells by packing them with sand. One can imagine how long it must have taken to dig a well, and yet without a thought the Philistines were ready to block all of them. The Philistines who were overcome with envy, destroyed all the wells that had taken so many years to build.
The Philistines first saw Isaac’s blessings, they thought about it, spoke about it, and acted on it which resulted in destruction. The one who called us is faithful, so the very wells that the Philistines stopped, the Lord enabled Isaac to revive, rename and use all of them later on.
When our hearts are filled with jealousy, we are in danger of being those who will devastate all the good that others have worked hard to build.
Jealousy is a process, and we must take care to uproot it, before it takes control of us. Jealousy does not allow us to rejoice when someone else is teeming with God’s blessings, but rather conspires for their down fall. We should therefore also not be surprised, worry or fear if we are the targets of people’s envy, when the Lord is with us, and blesses us.
When we encounter situations of lack or want, and our needs seem huge we can rest in the assurance that the Lord is with us, and He can do the impossible. When faced with those huge needs like the lack of wine at the marriage at Cana, or the lack of food for more than 5000 people, the Lord did the impossible by changing water to wine, and took the five loaves and two fish to feed the thousands who were there.
That is why I began with this wonderful word from Hebrews 13:5 which exhorts us to be content with what we have, for those who are God’s children have the assurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We must rid ourselves of the love for money, and rather decide to be happy with what we have, for the Lord has promised to be with us and take care of us.
Jealousy is worse than anger
We read in Proverbs 27:4, “Anger is cruel and destructive, but it is nothing compared to jealousy.” (GNB)
Here the word of God compares anger to jealousy, and the conclusion is that anger is nothing when compared to jealousy. All of us can identify an angry person by their countenance, actions or words, but seldom can we recognize a jealous person. It is something that transpires deep inside a person’s heart, but the peril is that it can outplay itself in ways far worse than anger.
In order to overcome jealousy, we must learn to be content with what we have, for the Lord reassures us that He will always remain with us. We must be reminded that the Lord is always willing to meet our every need, and not our greed.
Envy in the family
Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him
We read in Genesis 37:11, “Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the whole matter.” (GNB)
The reason the brothers of Joseph were envious of him, was simply because he was different from all of them. While all his brothers chose to be worldly, Joseph resolved to live a godly life. When they did wrong, he informed his father Jacob, and this greatly displeased his older brothers. Joseph wanted to be faithful to his father, and decided to not ignore the evil deeds, or to be party to it. His brothers therefore hated him, and were totally jealous of Joseph.
We read in Genesis 37:20, “Come on now, let's kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams." (GNB)
When jealousy overtook the brothers of Joseph, they lost their serene mind. Joseph had dreams and in one of the dream’s, he was in a field tying sheaves, where his sheaf stood upright, while all other eleven sheaves bowed down to his. When Joseph shared this dream with his brothers, they themselves gave the interpretation for the dream, and questioned Joseph if he thought that he would rule over all of them. Though they were instruments in God’s hand to interpret the dream of Joseph, they were so full of hatred and jealousy that they decided to destroy their own brother.
They began to plot as to how they might kill their own brother, so as to put an end to his dreams. He was not their enemy, or an outsider, but their own flesh and blood, but they still schemed to murder him. They threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and later hid the facts, and lied to their own father. If only the brothers of Joseph, perceived God’s plan, and worked in unison by not allowing hatred and jealousy to overrule them, the story might have ended differently. All of them would have been recipients of the blessings that was bestowed on Joseph. The brothers of Joseph unknowns to themselves became instrumental in sending Joseph to Egypt, where God had planned to raise him to the highest position, second only to Pharaoh.
Jealousy is not a harmless emotion as some presume, but has the capacity to turn a person into a murderer and a deceiver. That is why we need to deal with it, and eliminate it from our lives. It does not matter who conspires against us, if the Lord is with us, no man can ever obstruct God’s plan from being fulfilled in our lives. Adversely, every hindrance that is placed as a stumbling block before us, the Lord will use, and make them stepping stones for our success. If there are those who are discouraged because of opposition and jealousy from any quarter, you can be confident that the Lord will reverse those evil plans, for your own good, just like He did for Joseph.
Envy in the congregation of God
The group that was jealous of Moses and Aaron
We read in Psalm 106:16, “There in the desert they were jealous of Moses and of Aaron, the LORD's holy servant.” (GNB)
The psalmist records this incident from the life of Moses, when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. There was a group of people who were envious of Moses and Aaron.
It is recorded in Numbers 16:3, They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (ESV)
We read in Numbers 16:12, “And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, "We will not come up.” (ESV)
This entire conspiracy against Moses and Aaron began in the heart of one man Korah, and slowly spread to a group of people. (Numbers 16:1) The ones who came in total submission to Moses and Aaron to experience God’s mighty hand of deliverance from the slavery in Egypt, were now insolent, so as to refuse to go to meet their leader Moses, when he called for them. This entire plot began with one man’s jealousy, which led to insubordination to the leaders. It was already a formidable task for Moses to handle over six lakh men in the wilderness, and now he was challenged with this group who rose in rebellion against him and Aaron.
We read in Numbers 16:15, “And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them." (ESV)
Moses was so angry with these men, that he took his heartache, and complaint to the Lord Himself for he had been a faithful leader to the people of Israel.
We read in Numbers 16:26, “And he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins." (ESV)
This was the warning that Moses spoke to the entire congregation that gathered that day. He admonished them that if they were to escape the wrath of God, they were to flee from the tents of the wicked men who conspired against him, and not even touch a thing that belonged to them, lest they too be destroyed along with the rebels. Jealousy of one man led to disobedience and the consequence was that there was a group that joined in this rebellion. The punishment of God was the total destruction and death, of all those who rose in rebellion against God’s chosen leaders.
The feeling of jealousy is not only prevalent in society and family, but can also be found in the congregation of God’s people or the church of God. The church is not immune to this emotion for there is no perfect church. Church is not a building, but the people of God who gather together, and irrespective of where they gather, this is what the word of God calls the church. Within the church of God if jealousy is not dealt with severely, and eradicated from our hearts, it will heap on us numerous sins and cause division. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit of God, let Him search our hearts, and not entertain even the tiniest of envious thoughts against others.
God searches deep into our hearts, so we must pray fervently that the Lord will give to us a heart of contentment and satisfaction, instead of jealousy and discontent. It is vital that our hearts are always filled with gratitude for all that the Lord has graciously bestowed on us, and all the evil that He has protected us from. Jealousy is like an infectious disease, it spreads to others, spurs us to covet what is not ours, leading us to unrest and misery. It is not enough to be part of the church, but we must be assured that the Lord is with us, approves of us, and that there is not a hint of jealousy against anyone.
I was counselling a young girl, who was under evil oppression. As I prayed, counselled and spoke to her I discovered that she was distraught that she was short in stature. She was unable to accept this, and so turned her anger towards God, whom she blamed for her situation. Her animosity to God was so intense that she was unable to worship God, hear His word or pray meaningfully, though she went to church. Every time she saw someone taller than her, there were feelings of envy she couldn’t handle. This is a dangerous place to be in, for if our anger is turned against God, there is no way anyone else can help, for we are then the most pathetic people.
Let us be thankful to the Lord for our families, our spouse, our children, our parents, our church, the salvation we received, the forgiveness of sins, and for every blessing we have received from hand of the Lord. Let us not give room for any root of jealousy in our hearts. May we rejoice when others prosper, and be those who bless them sincerely from within our hearts. The life of Korah and his associates stands as a warning to us to be rid of every feeling of jealousy, that we rather be filled with a heart of gratitude and contentment.
May we be once again be encouraged from the words of Hebrews 13:5, Don't love money. Be happy with what you have because God has said, "I will never abandon you or leave you." (GW)
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
