Jealous?

MY God jealous? Uh, yeah, He is. Seemingly with good cause. "I thought jealousy was a sin." God cannot sin. Being jealous of what others have/coveting others things is a sin. God is not jealous of anything we have. He does not want our things. Pretty obvious, huh? But what He is jealous of are the things (or people) in our lives that mean more to us than He does. Don't think we fool Him by our pledges of love and devotion to Him. The things (or people) we are enamored with above Him are displayed to Him by our actions, not our words. They are evidenced by our thought-life. He created us for a relationship with Him first and foremost. Do you have things in your life that He might be jealous of? A hobby, a job, a romance, a spouse, a child? Pursuit of marriage? A better body? Intense pursuit of anything we want more than Him is glaringly obvious to Him (and to others), sometimes when we don't even see it ourselves. We can say He is MOST important in our lives, but many times our thoughts and actions PROVE otherwise. What or who are you pursuing more than Him? Where is your mind most often directed? Many times we don't see it if we don't take time to be honest and evaluate. Surely I am not the only one who can clearly see the things He'd be jealous of in my life.

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who had that one thing (or more than one thing) that you felt received more of that person than you did? More of their time, more of their thoughts, more of their attention??? At some point or another, we've all felt that way. I know how deeply it hurts and I do not want God to feel that way. I have a laundry list of what I have pursued more passionately than Him. I am ashamed to admit that, but honest enough to state it as fact. Those pursuits have failed. On occasion He allowed me to have the things that I recklessly pursued, but they eventually consumed me. They did not fill me up the way I envisioned, many times they hurt me deeply because they consumed me then left me empty. Other times, the pursued things or people were simply removed from my life one way or another so that I was no longer ABLE to place that thing above Him. That's been heartbreaking too, and yet, it brings me back to Him, my true focus.

Until we place God in the proper place--above ALL else, our other pursuits will never yield the harvests we chase so feverishly. They will be hollow or leave us hollow over time, or they will be removed from our lives altogether. He will not accept second place. And He shouldn't. I am learning everyday to chase after Him first and foremost. All of the other things I desire will be added to me if He chooses, not if I pursue them at His expense. He alone blesses me with things that I desire, once we truly understand that, how can we keep from pursuing Him with more passion and desire than all other things? He is the creator and generator of all those other things. He will bless us as we need and as He sees is best for us. I am learning to trust in Him and to pursue Him above all else. I am finding that there is great peace in that. I love others deeply, some so deeply I can barely contain it or understand it. However, those people and things: whether they are a professional pursuit, my kiddo, or the "love of my life", whatever/whoever it is--takes second place to God.

Life is always a series of new pursuits, challenges, experiences, and people, but GOD is the one thing that never changes. He is the foundation on which all others are balanced. Without Him first, providing the essential foundation, the rest is a crazy, shaky balancing act that eventually will crash to the ground in a million pieces. Yet many of us have been there: completely shattered by life. But by placing God as the primary passion and primary pursuit in our lives, we can then begin to experience the rock-solid foundation we all desire and the ability to balance all of our secondary passions and pursuits because of His proper placement in our lives. It really is a pretty cool thing.

Thank you God for always finding a way to pull me back to You. Thank you for the people in my life that I love so deeply that I can barely contain it, and yet have on occasion given You reason to be jealous of them. May I never place them above You again. In submission I place them under Your care and control in my life and I am thankful for them as they are treasured blessings in my life. Thank you for the passions in my life professionally and personally. May I never place one of them above You either. They are blessings, but they have their place too. May I never treat You as a backup to any other passion or pursuit, may You always be my most sought after treasure! It is so easy in this life to get caught up in things other than You, even in things related to You: ministry etc. Guard my heart and my mind and help me to keep focused on You while still being a part of this temporary life and the people in it with me. It is a delicate balance that I cannot keep without You. Hold me steady as I do my best to balance it all well. I hope to honor You with all that I do.