How to Handle Jealousy When Someone Else Is Blessed
When someone else gets what you've been praying for, something in you twists. In this episode, discover what Asaph did with his envy, and why bringing it to God finds a different home than burying it in private.
When someone else gets what you've been praying for, something in you twists. In this episode, discover what Asaph did with his envy, and why bringing it to God finds a different home than burying it in private.
Asaph had one of the most important jobs in all of Israel. King David appointed him as chief worship leader, he led the tabernacle choir, and he composed psalms that are still in your Bible today. By every visible measure, this was a man whose faith was settled.
And then he watched the wrong people prosper. His feet started to slip.
He wrote about it in Psalm 73, plainly and without softening it. He'd been serving God faithfully while the people around him who did none of that were healthy and without a care, doing fine by every outward measure. He envied them. He tried to figure out why God would let it go on, and he described that work as almost more than he could stand.
Most of us know that feeling, even if we won't say it out loud. We call it frustration, or we say we're processing. But when someone else gets the job or the recognition we've been praying for, something in us twists. We know exactly what it is.
Envy is one of those things most people bury rather than bring to God. We figure we should have outgrown it, or that it'll pass if we wait long enough. So it goes underground, where it starts affecting things in ways we don't connect back to the original feeling.
Asaph took it somewhere else. He walked into the sanctuary. And what he found there changed everything.
This episode includes something personal. I've spent most of my ministry watching other speakers and wishing I had what they had: the ones who grab an audience from the first sentence, who have a story for everything told so well you forget the room you're sitting in. I've felt envy toward those speakers. What I've had to come back to is that God made me the way He did for reasons He understands better than I do. My job is to admit what I feel and develop what's already in my hands.
Through Asaph's story and Psalm 73, this episode makes the case that envy brought to God finds a different home than envy buried in private. Asaph got something better than an answer. He got a perspective so complete that the question stopped mattering the way it had. He came out and wrote: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you."
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:
- Why burying envy produces no perspective, and what bringing it to God does
- What Asaph found in the sanctuary that changed his entire view of the prosperity he'd been watching
- One concrete prayer you can bring to God today about what you're envying and what's underneath it
Envy brought to God finds a different home than envy buried in private.
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Asaph had one of the most important jobs in all of Israel,
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and if you'd met him, you probably would have assumed he
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had everything figured out. King David had appointed him as the
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chief worship leader before the Ark of the Covenant. He led the
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tabernacle choir, and the people around him regarded him as a
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prophet and a seer. He composed psalms that are still in your
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Bible today. By every visible measure, this was a man whose
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faith was settled. And then, he watched the wrong people prosper,
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and something in him started to slip. He wrote about it later,
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in Psalm 73, and he didn't dress it up. He said his feet had
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almost given way. He'd been serving God faithfully and
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living with integrity, doing what you do when you're trying
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to follow God. And there were people all around him who did
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none of it, and were healthy, without a care, and doing fine
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by every outward measure. He said it plainly: "He envied
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them." He tried to figure out why God would let it go on. He
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described that work as painful almost more than he could stand.
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He kept wrestling with it, and turning it over until the day he
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walked into the sanctuary of God.
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He said it plainly, and he said it plainly, and he said it
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plainly, "The ones with a story for everything, told so well,
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you forget the room you're sitting You forget the room
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you're sitting in. I've stood backstage, watching someone work
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a crowd, and felt something I'm embarrassed to admit
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envy. I wanted what they had. What I've had to come back to
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over and over is that God made me the way he did, for reasons
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he understands better than I do. He gave me what he gave me. My
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job is to admit what I feel and develop what's already in my
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hands, what he's given me. And that's a different assignment
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than wanting someone else's, and that's what today is about. Envy
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is one of those things most of us won't admit to others. We
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call it frustration, or we say we're processing. But when
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someone else gets the job or the recognition we've been praying
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for, something in us changes. It kind of twists us, and we know
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when it happens. Here's the passage we're working with today.
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It's Psalm 73, verses 2-3, and then a little later, verses
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16-17. "But as for I almost lost my footing, my feet were
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slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I
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saw them prosper despite their wickedness. And then later, so I
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tried to understand why the wicked prosper, but what a
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difficult task it is! Then I went into your sanctuary, O and
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I finally understood the destiny of the wicked." Asaph didn't
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dress this up. He said his feet were slipping, and he admitted
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he was envious of them. And then he did the one thing that
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he brought it to God. "It's the thing most
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of us won't do, because bringing envy to God feels like admitting
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something we'd rather keep private. We figure we should
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have outgrown it by now, and we tell ourselves it'll pass if we
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wait long enough. So, we bury it, and it doesn't go anywhere; it
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just goes underground, where it starts affecting things in ways
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we don't always connect back to the original feeling. What Asaph
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found when he walked into the sanctuary was perspective. He
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couldn't have gotten on his own. He saw where the prosperity of
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the wicked was headed, and where his own life with God was headed,
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and the two destinations were nothing alike. The envy got
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replaced by something even better. what happens when you
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bring envy to God. Managing it in private produces no
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perspective. You can't manufacture that perspective by
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just trying harder. You've got to go where Asaph went, into the
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presence of God, and let him show you what you can't see from
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where you're standing. The envy you're carrying is also telling
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you something. There's something underneath it that you want,
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something you've been praying for, maybe, or working hard
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toward, and the feeling surfaced because it matters to you. God
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understands that. He knows what you want and why you want it.
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Bringing the envy to him means bringing all of that with it,
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the desire and the disappointment, and the question
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of whether he's paying attention. Don't worry. He can handle every
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bit of it. Now, let's get back to Asaph. Asaph said that when
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he entered the sanctuary, everything changed. He got
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something better than an answer. He got a change of perspective
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so complete that the question stopped mattering the way that
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it had. He saw where the prosperity of the wicked was
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headed, and where his own life with God was headed. And those
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two destinations were very, very different. He came out and wrote
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"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I
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desire besides you." Envy brought to God finds a different
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home than envy buried in private. Bringing it to the sanctuary
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changes what you can see from there. That means bringing it to
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God. Here's today's challenge. Name what you're envying. Write
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it down if it helps you to name it plainly. And then pray. Tell
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God what you want and what it feels like to watch someone else
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have it. And then pray: "And that's prayer. That's talking to
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God. And that's being honest with Him. That's what Asaph did.
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Then, ask God to give you what he gave Asaph in the sanctuary."
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Perspective you couldn't have gotten on your own. "Lord, you
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already know what we're envying. You know what we've wanted and
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how long we've been wanting it. We're bringing it to you now.
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The envy and the desire that drives it. Give us what Asaph
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found when he walked into your presence. A perspective that
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changes what we can see. Remind us that what you've given us is
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exactly what you intended. And help us tend what's already in
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our hands. In Jesus' name. Amen." If Daily Devotions for
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Busy Lives has encouraged you, would you take a minute and
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leave a rating and a review? It helps more people find these
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devotions, and it only takes a moment. I'd be so grateful.
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Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
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Remember, envy brought to God finds a different home than envy
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buried in private. Come back next time for more encouragement
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to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God
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bless, and have a great day.
