Jealousy

It happens most notably when I'm scrolling through Instagram. I'll see a picture and want to like it, but there's a tinge in my heart. Not a tinge of excitement, but a little bit of jealousy. It creeps over me, and sometimes (certainly not all of the time) I feel as if I'm missing out on something. Why don't I have her hair? Or that dress? Or that awesome experience? How can I make my makeup like that?

The guarding of the heart in this area of life is not for the faint of heart.

It requires armor. It requires a will for joy. It requires persistence in contentment.

And yet, at the end of it all God permits jealousy.

He what? This is a hard one for me to swallow. But I believe the Lord permits jealousy in our lives for our greater sanctification. Jealousy breeds discontentment; and as one working our their salvation with the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit, there is much putting off the old qualities of man and putting on that which brings life. Thus, we are to put off jealousy and discontentment and put on kindness, humility, compassion and contentment.

This morning I intentionally turned back a few chapters in Exodus to work through a different passage than where I actually ended up landing. I wanted to focus on the glory shining on Moses's face after the Lord passed by Him in the cleft of the rock. Yet, I didn't start in the right place. It is all about the context and so back a chapter I went. There it was: "-- for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God --" (Exodus 34:14). God is jealous.

But how can God be jealous, when I'm a little jealous of so-so? God can't be jealous because He is God! Just keep reading, Erin. Don't stop to think about that. Get to the veil. Keep going. But the Lord had me stuck there for a moment. He knew I'd been dealing with jealousy in my heart. He knew I needed a teachable moment, and it was found in the verses I'd never intended to read that morning.

Yes, our God is a jealous God. He is jealous for us -- the entirety of us. When I'm scrolling the social media outlet of choice and the tinge overcomes me, it's the same tinge He feels, except His jealousy is times infinity and a holy jealousy. When I'm looking at what everyone else has and wanting what they've got rather than being contented, He's doing the same. He sees me chasing after the things of the world for satisfaction rather than Him, and He is jealous.

Our God is jealous for our attention and desires and delights that find themselves resting in anything but Him. He wants us to look to Him and be satisfied. It's not in the busy schedule, the numerous commitments at church, the children, the career, the growing salary or husband; It's Him. He is our ultimate!

Though my jealousy may come from wanting the things that are not good for me in the moment, His jealousy comes from wanting the one He has created to be completely devoted to Him. And that... that is a good jealousy.

His jealousy is right. His jealousy is pure. His jealousy is for our good. Yes, our God is a jealous God.


And as we read the title to this post, we collectively thought of the Gin Blossoms.