jealousy

The Promise

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In Genesis 21, we see that Sarah gave birth to a son (at 100 years old!!!) and she named him Isaac, which means he laughs. How fitting is his name, as Sarah laughed when the Lord told her she would conceive a child in her old age. Sarah and Abraham were very old and naturally should not have been able to have children any longer, but through divine intervention, God fulfilled his promise and allowed them to have children. Isaac was literally the promised child.

Anytime blessings happen, we know that haters are quick to show up on the scene. In this story there are two haters. The first is Isaac’s older half-brother Ishmael, who laughs (mockingly) at Isaac. The second is actually Sarah, who is a big hater of Hagar (Ishmael’s mom). Sarah was mad that Ishmeal was laughing at Isaac, and there was probably a little bit of jealousy and awkwardness because Hagar slept with her husband Abraham, but who’s keeping score? So here is this rich woman Sarah (Abraham had a lot of sheep and stuff) who is mad at a slave woman (Hagar) because of sibling rivalry between Ishmael and Isaac. Sarah goes and complains to her husband and tells him to get rid of Hagar.

And what does Abraham do? After talking to God and calming down a bit, he packs Hagar a picnic basket and tells her and his firstborn son to get lost. Just messy!

So Hagar was tough and headed out to the desert with her son. When she ran out of food and water, she cried out to God because she couldn’t bear to watch her son die. And you know what happened? God heard her cry and led her to a well in the middle of the desert so she could get water for her and her son. God allowed them to survive, and not only that, but he promised that Ishmael would become a great nation one day.

God talks about laughter a lot, He is the inventor of laughter, but let us make sure that we are laughing for the right reasons and not secretly becoming the villains of our own stories. Also, remember when humans fail us, or when we fail ourselves, God is still there and He never fails. In fact, God works all things together for GOOD.

Be encouraged, God keeps His promises even when we become impatient or doubt. God is consistent and loves us enough to pick us back up when we fall, every time we fall. All we have to do is cry out to Him and trust that He will be there.

Real Talk – Confidence

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This is a departure from the usual Chapter by Chapter Bible study series, but I think it’s important to discuss. A lot of people struggle with speaking up about their faith or owning their decissions, especially when it comes to their identities in Christ. I too have struggled with this from time to time. The thought of what if someone doesn’t like me, or they will think I’m weird or people will talk about me come popping in my head from time to time, but here are some conclusions I’ve come to in my walk with God.

If my life ministers to someone else, if I can help them by sharing what I know, then who cares what other people think?

Will people make fun of me? Yup! But they were doing that behind my back anyways. Who cares?

The people that like me will still like me. The ones that don’t can go bother someone else. I care not about haters, I care about doing what I am purposed to do.

GOD LOVES YOU!

Your brothers and sisters in Christ love you. You family (by blood or by choice) love you. Your friends love you. The people that really love you are never going to stop loving you, just like you wouldn’t stop loving them. They know who you are already, so walk in that identity.

Be confident.

Be confident that you are loved.

Be confident in who you are.

Be confident in what you will do.

Will mistakes be made? Sure will! But that’s how you learn, how you grow, and how you improve yourself. Everyone makes mistakes – it’s okay! The only ones that will attack you are the ones that feel threatened, jealous, or just love misery. Stay strong.

“The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I [Jesus] came that you may have life and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10 NIV

“Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let your joy overflow! And let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 4:4-7 TPT

Be encouraged to walk out your purpose with God today. You are not alone. Opposition will come, but that’s when you pray and stand your ground. You were created to be victorious. You were created in God’s image, and that is beautiful. So don’t hide your beauty and don’t hide your talents or your purpose. You got this and God’s got you!

M for Murder

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Genesis chapter 4 is the first chapter that begins outside of the Garden. In chapter 3, we saw man disobey God and be dealt the consequence of having to leave the Garden, but with a promise – that woman would birth a son who would crush the serpent under foot. In the first verse of chapter 4, we see that Eve bars a son named Cain and she thanks the Lord for him. She also gives birth to a son named Abel. For 2 adults who never had a childhood, having 2 boys must have been challenging.

Now the text let’s us know that these sons were different from one another. The first born, Cain, tilled the ground. Basically, he grew crops from the ground. And Abel was a shepherd, he had to care for animals. Aside from that, their jobs, they had the same upbringing, the same parents, the same environment, the same everything.

After some time, each boy brought an offering to God. Cain brought some of the fruit that he had grown and Abel brought the first of his flock as an offering. Now it doesn’t say why, but God had regard for Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. So Cain got angry.

It was probably jealousy and anger and a bunch of complicated emotions that Cain didn’t know how to deal with. Cain, it would seem, felt less than because God had no regard for his offering. I have been in those positions before where you see other people getting the praise or the rewards that you want and you feel less than. Sometimes that jealousy and anger drives you to great lengths to get that which you desire. Now desire in itself isn’t always bad, but the lengths to which you go to achieve it is usually where we get ourselves into trouble. For Cain, it drove him to kill his brother.

Before that happened, God spoke with Cain. He asked him why he was angry and tried to give him some advice. Did Cain listen? No. He was consumed by his anger at that point. So many times when we are angry, we can’t hear the voice of reason around us. We just want to be right, or to have things be what we deem as “fair”, or just generally want things to go our way. To have humility and say, I was wrong, let me try again could stop this angry train from going off the tracks, but too many times that’s not the path we seek.

So Cain calls his brother out into the field and kills him.

Cain becomes the first murderer and has to deal with his own guilt and the consequences. Initially when God asks Cain where Abel is, Cain tries to say “I don’t know, am I in charge of him”? But God calls him out and tells Cain that He knows what he did. So he tells Cain that he is going to be cursed and have to wander the Earth as a fugitive. Cain fears for his life, but the Lord marks him and tells him that if anyone kills him, they will be punished 7 times worse. And God puts a mark on Cain so everyone will know. Then Cain leaves the presence of God.

Now the interesting thing to me is that the text says that Cain left the presence of the Lord. I don’t recall in the previous verses God saying that Cain couldn’t be with God anymore or talk to him or anything, it just said that he was going to be a wanderer. Isn’t that usually what happens though? We do something wrong, we receive the consequences and then we run away from God. What would have happened if Cain had said that he messed up, that he sinned, that he was sorry and that he didn’t want to leave God’s side. What would have happened if he had asked God for help to become a better person?

Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. The rest of the chapter tells us of the family tree of Cain and of the new family tree of Adam and Eve. It shows us that life goes on. It doesn’t mean that Adam and Eve weren’t still grieving the loss of Abel or weren’t still mad at Cain. It just means that they didn’t let those feeling paralyze them in their tracks.

Sometimes we get so down on ourselves that it drives us to inaction. But here’s the thing, life goes on. Cain had to deal with the consequences of his sin, but he also birthed a city and was a father to those that have livestock, that play music, that are blacksmiths. Even when we feel at our worst, we can still produce good things.