ENVY - Is Your Heart in The Right Place?

INSPIRATION ★ blestmagazine.com
04.07.01


ENVY - Is Your Heart in The Right Place?

Recently, I had the luxury of going to the dentist office for a lost filling. I must admit that is had been a while since I last seen a dentist, but not by choice. I entered the office and felt right at home. It had a comfortable feeling that would satisfy any child and the adult that the child brought with them. As I went to sit down in the dental workstation, I fell into a plush dental chair with at 42 inch plasma flat screen in front of me. It had a modern appearance with the comforts of home as I was the chocolate peaking out from behind the corner of the shelf.

The dental assistant took a couple of x-rays and within moments my dentist arrives. Dr. L. was a youthful young woman around my age. The first question that popped in my head was that I made the wrong career decision. We engaged in conversation about how she would fix my tooth and the cost. Looking at the bill, I again thought I made the wrong decision. What the insurance covered and what I had to pay out of pocket somehow switched places.

Then I thought, “This is what I will write about!”

Envy is the feeling of unhappiness caused by comparing one’s situation or therefore lack to what someone else has obtained.

It was not that I wanted to be a dentist, though I enjoyed the strategically planted TV screens. However, dealing with bad breath and accidental biting is not my ideal career. Truthfully, in seeing my dentist who is close in age, caused me to feel that my goals of entrepreneurship and financial freedom had somehow passed me by completely and I immediately felt left behind.

Pause....

As I walked out of the dentist office, I realized that I was ticked off by the extensiveness of the bill, and as I sat down in the car I recently paid off to drive to the restaurant to meet my current job’s co-workers, everything I felt in the office disappeared. How quickly can one’s heart go to the wrong place?

When comparing one’s accomplishments or lack of accomplishments to another’s, there will always be someone who is smarter, moved up the ladder quicker, has more money, is in better shape, is prettier, taller, can fit into any shoe at any store at any time, etc. etc. This list is endless.

It is at this time of comparison that some vital questions must be asked. For example:

• What is God’s purpose in my life?
• In fulfilling this purpose, is there any room, rhyme, or reason for comparison?
• Is the path God has taken me been wrong or am I just maturing in my faith?

Answering a few questions can help you determine the reasoning behind the envious feelings. I realized that my dentist is not a better person because she established herself quicker. I chose to follow God’s outline for my life because He purposed each one of his chosen children to walk in a way that brings true light to the world. As a child of God, sibling to the Christ, and constant communicator with the Holy Spirit it is our duty to feel more while going through trials and tribulations. However, we cannot allow envy and his cousins (confusion, comparison, and doubt) take reign in our lives to allow the loss of faith in our hearts.

Is your heart with Jesus Christ or are you pursuing the world heart’s desire? Pursuing Christ’s plan for your life allows your trials to be shorter as you become stronger in relationship with God. However, if the world is whom you seek to please, you will have trial on top of trial to deal with.

Now take a moment and see where your heart is? ■

— calling by :
candace eldridge