“OOOPS! JEALOUSY HURTS”

David was a man after God’s own heart. From a humble beginning as a shepherd boy, the last out of Jesse’s eight sons, he was chosen, appointed and anointed as the second king of Israel, the one who replaced the first king, Saul.

One of the practices during the old times is giving more preference to the first born. All privileges, special treatment, power, authority and blessings are given to the eldest son. Looking at this situation, David has by no chance at all to be chosen when the prophet Samuel went into the house of his father to anoint the God’s chosen king.

In the book of first Samuel, Prophet Samuel saw Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, good looking and with good physique. But the Lord said unto Samuel, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him.” This kind of situation proves that appearance and position is not the qualification God is looking for a person whom he wants for a mission. He said, “…for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)

And so David was anointed king of Israel, the simple shepherd boy, with gift of music and extraordinary obedience to God. He was anointed in the midst of his brethren and the “Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward”. From other people’s perspective, he was described as “astute in playing (music), a mighty valiant man, a man of war, a comely person and more, the LORD is with him.

As he successfully administering his call, Saul grew jealous of David. He became so envious of his achievements for he recognized that God took care of David. He saw the difference in David’s life because of God’s blessings. As David is busy doing what the Lord asked him to do, Saul grew even more self-centered and fearful of David. David grew closer to God, even as Saul grew more distant.

Jealousy can start out as a small thing.

You notice that your friend or office mate seems to have something you don’t have. Like success, talent, possessions, favor from your bosses and other people. You pay closer attention, looking for differences in the way God blesses him/her. You have an increasing sense of privilege--- “Don’t I deserve to have what my friend has?” Before you knew it, you are heading to the same path Saul took. You grow angry, bitter and suspicious of your friend or office mate--- what is worse, you are now looking for ways to even the score!

The consequences of simple jealousy might lead to something tremendous that in the end, you yourself will be the one at the losing end. You will try to expose the flaws of the person you are being envious of; you would want others to see his/her weaknesses to cover up his/ her strengths. You will try to manipulate circumstances that might lead to his/ her failure--- sabotage in other word, just to put him/her down. You might even use people in position to maneuver circumstances that will lead to his/her failure. All these and the likes will still go back to you, in the end, the one who gets hurt is you.

Let us learn from Saul’s mistake. There are plenty of reasons for him to be thankful, but his jealousy blinded him to his own blessings.

Jealousy makes people blind. 

No wonder why there are a lot of broken relationships. 

Jealousy leads to selfishness and it makes us not to see the blessings that we have. God created each one for a purpose. He created us uniquely from each other. What one have, is not the same with others because how would we be able to appreciate the beauty of life if we are all the same? We were created to complement each other. Like the different parts of the body, each one has its own function. The eyes can’t ask the feet to see things for the task was given solely for the eyes to see and vice versa.

Let us be contented with what we have, what is given to us, what is within the power of our hands and out of that, let us give our best. Let us make ourselves busy with what we can contribute for humanity and not on what others can and cannot. Let us not settle for mediocrity so that in our own special way, we too can bring good fruits to be seen and emulated by others.

Don’t take your eyes off God to compare your blessings with anyone else’s.

Choose the path David took--- the path of THANKFULNESS--- and you’ll enjoy God’s blessings throughout your life.

--- inspired by Henry Blackaby in his book Experiencing God Devotionals.