Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
We spend a lot of time with other people. And sometimes, from the outside, another person's life looks so much better than ours. One person gets to travel all over the world. Another person just got a nice new house. Someone else has the best spouse. Those people never have to worry about money. Feeling guilty yet? Yes, I think we all look at other people and think that the life they have is easy, glamorous, fun. Not like ours. Not mundane, hard, lonely.
But...that is THEIR life. That is the life God gave to them. What you may not know, however, are the sacrifices or losses those other people have. Maybe those people you envy never had children they longed for. Maybe they are hiding a severe illness. Maybe they have lost their parents. Maybe, just maybe, to them YOUR life looks pretty good.
God tells us to be content with our lives. That HE is with us always and nothing else is of great consequence. In Luke 12:15 we read "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
It is not important to God for us to accumulate great wealth or possessions. It is important to Him that we take whatever He has given us and use it to serve Him, to minister to others, to live a life that may lead someone else to see His goodness.
Am I going to say that I am never jealous? Well, mercy me, that would be a big ole whopper! But I have learned that God gives each of us what He wants us to have. Will I ever have a brand new expensive home? Very doubtful. But I have had some time to work on renovations of our old run down home and it has brought lots of laughter and time together with my husband and, occasionally, our sons and friends. Will I ever drive the top of the line vehicle? No, that would be a waste of money; but I do have a vehicle that not only will carry all of my grandchildren but gave me the opportunity to travel some this summer with 3 of my aunts. And we had a grand time!! Do I sometimes wish for better or nicer things? Of course I do. Do I sometimes feel a little green because someone else got those things? I must admit I do. But then I remind myself that I don't know their entire story. I don't know what they went through or went without to get to that place.
It is MY responsibility to live the life that God has designed for ME. It is YOUR responsibility to live the life that God designed for YOU. We won't all go through the same struggles or trials or heartaches. But we will all go through some. Isn't that what Jesus said in part of John 16:33 "In the world ye shall have tribulation..."? Oh but look at the rest of that verse, "but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." We need to strive every day to be as Paul and say "for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." And we can change that to say "whatever life I am given I will be content in living".
Let us all pray for one another that the desires of our heart will be the desires of God's heart. And let us each be thankful for our life, our path, our journey. My prayer is that God blesses you greatly and that you are very grateful for each of those blessings!
