Good morning. Back in the days of my youth one of my favorite experiences was going fishing with my maternal grandparents. They were quite a pair! As gramps would troll along the edge of the lake, grandma would yell, “you’re too close to the weeds!” He would make a grumpy noise and direct the boat farther away from shore. “Now we’re out in the middle of the lake!” she’d say, “we aren’t going to catch anything out here.” “Make up your mind” would be his even grumpier response. Ah yes, good times. The strange thing was, they loved each other. They would carry on with jibes and complaints one minute, and then they’d hold each other close and say something nice the next. I’d like to tell you that I understood the relationship dynamic that was at play between them, but I didn’t. As any good grandchild would, I just thought they were weird. And that was OK with me, as long as I got to go fishing.
One of our favorite lakes was Deer Lake and on the far end of the lake there was a beautiful home. Pretty much every time we’d go past that spot gramps would say “Look at that place. Isn’t it beautiful? Boy, I sure wish we had a place like that.” Grandma’s response would be just as consistent, “Now Vern, (yes, I was named after him) you know that envy is a sin.” Then he would look at her and say “OK, how about this, I wish I had that place and that he had a bigger one.” And then they would both laugh. Like I said, weird.
Have you ever thought that it wasn’t quite fair that someone you don’t even know had so much of something? Did it enter your heart that just because that person has more it doesn’t mean that you have any less? Or how about this, as you longed for something that wasn’t within your reach did you ever wonder whether or not what you were assuming would be a great blessing in your life might actually be more of a curse once you had it?
We read in James 4:2-3 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not properly ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, satisfying only your desires.
We might think that while we may want something, but we’re not going to kill for it. Well, OK, maybe not with a rifle but what about your heart, your spirit, and your tongue? Do unmet desires ever poison your opinion of someone? Proverbs 14:30 tells us: A tranquil heart brings you life and refreshment, but envy makes you rotten all the way to your bones.
Perhaps Isaiah 61:10 puts into perspective what it means to recognize the blessings of the Lord and find satisfaction in them: “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
I guess what I am suggesting is that when we feel that our cup is overflowing with the Lord’s blessings it probably isn’t the right time to complain and wish for a bigger cup.
Please consider a couple of verses that I find to be an inspiration:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Ephesians 1:3-4
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
Praise be to God for His love and for His wisdom. He knows what we need. He knows what will bring us joy not only for a moment but for an eternity. He knows what will satisfy far beyond what sparkles and shines in this world.
Vern