Green

Whoa.  Where did that come from?  I got hit square between the eyes the other day by the green-eyed monster.  It came out of nowhere.  Like a predator stalking its prey.  Apparently it's been lurking in the shadows.  I didn't know it was even there until it struck.

There was something I really wanted to do, but I wasn't able to.  Ok, that's just the way it goes, right?  No big deal.  I understand that I can't have it all.  Can't do it all.  Can't be everywhere I want to be.  It just doesn't always work out.  But then I caught wind that someone else got to do what I had wanted to do?!  Like I said...whoa. 

I was immediately aware of the burning.  What do you do when feel those fires build inside you?  Too many times we probably vent the steam, and it feels better, right?  But the fire still smolders unless we extinguish it.  And I've found that for me, that means dousing it in repentance and prayer.

So what does God have to say about jealousy?  Here's the irony...the majority of the verses in the Bible that contain jealous or jealousy talk about how God is a Jealous God.  Huh?  How is that possible?  Here I am thinking this is an issue I needed to deal with in my life, but God is jealous too?? 

Jealousy, in my case, stems from feelings of envy or resentment toward someone because of their success or advantages they had over me. 
But jealousy, in God's case, is a result of His intolerance of unfaithfulness or rilvary for affections that rightly belong to Him and no one else.  The first four of the ten commandments speak directly to the fact that God wants and deserves our attention. 

“You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..."

I think a lot of times jealousy simply comes down to one word:  entitlement.  And that's where the difference lies.  We get envious and angry because we think we're privileged.  We think we deserve special treatment.  We think we have certain rights because of our status, our relationships with different people, or our abilities.  But really?  Who do we think we are??  God?!

God is the only One who has a right to be jealous, because He is the only One who truly deserves the merit, the attention, the adoration, the affection, the recognition, the priority, the honor, glory, and praise!!  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.