Do you know the difference between what it is to covet and to envy?
To covet is to strongly desire something someone else has that you don’t and likely will never have.
To envy is to want to deny someone from having or enjoying what they’ve been given.
Though different in meaning, both envying and coveting are destructive.
They’re like rottenness to the bones (Pr. 14:30).
And both tend to function the same way in our hearts…
In that they feed on any dissatisfaction we may have with the story of our lives.
God has given us each a story to live.
And He oversees our individual stories as part of His larger story of redemption.
You might say… we are each living out a subplot of our creator’s grand narrative.
But…
When we allow ourselves to covet or envy we say something about the story God has given us…
We are saying we don’t like the part He has for us… and He should have given us another.
But this is not true.
God knows what is best for each one of us.
And the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence, even though it may appear so…
Because God has not ordained us to be on the other side of the fence.
He’s ordained us to be where He has us…
And that we fulfill our story there — as a part of His big story — well.
To covet or envy keeps us from doing that…
And it actually spoils our own stories.
Because it gets us focusing on a part of someone else’s story instead of fully living out our own.
So remember…
God has given you a significant story to live…
With your gifts and opportunities in your place and time.
You are the only one in your position.
And how you carry yourself there will affect generations to come.
The pain, drudgery and disappointments of life may make that hard to see.
But our all-wise God is working all things for good.
And our greatest joy and reward comes as we look to Him in faith as we seek to live our stories well.
Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9).