When We Envy, We are in a Battle with God!

When it looks like God’s blessing somebody in a way that he’s not blessing us, relax and trust God. Believe that he knows what’s best for us, and trust him when life seems unfair.

One of the ways we can tell envy is creeping into our life is the language we use. If we find ourselves using the phrase “It’s not fair,” we’ve already fallen into the trap of envy. We say, “It’s not fair! Why them? Why not me? I’ve worked as hard as they do.”

In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers, the workers felt that they were being treated unfairly, not because they weren’t paid what they were promised but because other people who worked less were paid the same amount.

Matthew 20:12 says, “These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us.” You can hear the envy: “We slaved all day under a scorching sun. We’re better than them!”

Notice in the next verses the reply of the owner, who represents God: “Friend, I didn’t cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. . .. What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?” (Matthew 20:13-15).

The bottom line on envy is this: When we’re envious, we’re in a battle with God. We doubt God’s goodness in our life. We resent His decision to bless somebody else. We accuse Him of being unfair. We don’t believe he has our best interest at heart. We accuse him of playing favorites.

On the contrary, God’s unconditional, unending love is the same for everyone. But he’s not our vending machine — we can’t put in a prayer and get whatever we want. God has a good reason why we don’t have what we want. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Practice praying, “God, I’m going to trust that you have a unique plan for my life and that you know better than me what I need right now.”

Envy is the fever. Doubting God is the infection. Any time we start envying, it’s because we doubt God.

My Challenge for us Today is to take the medicine we need, start trusting again in God and his love for us.