When I used to be a part of a gardening community, I learned a whole lot about nature. For instance, one of us planted blue tomatoes which were very beautiful and glossy. When asked how they tasted, her face fell. Reportedly, they tasted like nothing, close to water. And that brought up the concept that there is a divine balance in nature. God gave those blue tomatoes beautiful color but skipped giving them the taste.
Similarly, and I have not personally checked this, I hear that red roses have no fragrance. It is as if God gives you something great and decides that is sufficient for you. He then gives the next great thing or talent to somebody else. Perhaps that is why many nations that have abundant mineral supplies underground tend to have very little leadership. On the other hand, those with nothing underground have great leaders above ground.
Some people have great marriages but have no children. Others have miserable marriages and their children grow up to be surgeons or artists of renown. Now that we mention it, you start to see that there is truly a divine balance in the world. But you may be wondering what it has to do with your health since we are speaking on that topic. You are right to wonder but the key is envy, which usually has bad effects on health.
The Divine Balance Avoids Envy
Imagine that your friend has a great marriage, great health and successful children. You look at yourself and your spouse is a never-do-well. The children are on drugs, going nowhere and there are health problems in the family. The immediate feeling that comes to your mind is jealousy. We shall look at the health effects of jealousy soon but note that after jealousy, you become angry at God. Being angry with the God who alone can help you is a terrible state for you to be in.
Without divine balance, a lot of people would suffer from jealousy. But when like Abraham, you know that the judge of the earth will always do right, you can relax. It is only then that you can really enjoy your own gifts without the cancer of jealousy. Yes, jealousy is like cancer, eating away at your heart and soul, leading to all sorts of health problems.
They include wanting to get revenge on the highly gifted person. And you know what the bible says about revenge. Don’t do it, leave it to me is what God says. You will always be angry if you are envious. Headaches, high blood pressure, and sleeplessness are some of the effects of envy. Once we understand the bad effects of envy, we should start thanking God for divine balance. We should be grateful He distributes his gifts more or less evenly; justly.
Learn From Jesus
No matter the topic, a Christian must learn from Jesus but we talk specifically here about his birthplace. He was the king of kings and yet he was born in the manger. Did he let that stop him? What would you have done if you were in that family’s position? You are someone important and they told you that you could not come into the hospital to deliver your baby. Mary rejoiced.
And that was not the only time she rejoiced. When the angel told her she would be the mother of Jesus was the first time. She knew she was an unknown but saw the divine balance at work. That was when she wrote her song of praise which is known as the Magnificat. Do we take the time to see God at work, balancing out his gifts? Or do we envy others for what we don’t have while forgetting what we have? Don’t forget that Adam and Eve had several other trees in the Garden of Eden from which they could eat. But they had to envy God for the only one that was not their own.
Please note that the divine balance does not mean He will distribute everything equally. Remember, He gave his servants different talents but the distribution was based on their ability to use them. You would not give your five-year-old son a helicopter to fly, no matter how much you loved him. That is because he cannot yet fly it.
Conquer Envy With Love
So, the next time you see someone who seems to have more talents than you, don’t grow jealous. First, it may just be an appearance. Like the example that we used at the start. Which is better, blue tomatoes or tasty tomatoes? Only God knows but the blue ones might envy the tasty ones and the tasty ones might envy the colorful ones. They are different, in the same way that you are different from the other person. One is not necessarily better, God just has a way of ensuring divine balance.
He says in 1 Corinthians 1.26-27 “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” He even gives us the reason He balances gifts and talents out in this way. Verse 29 of that same chapter says, “that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
So, even if your friend has more natural gifts than you. You still don’t have to harbor jealousy in your heart as that will cause God to be unhappy with you. The reason is that you lie against the truth (Jesus) if you ignore the divine balance. Once you empty your heart of envy, you have only two more steps to take. Cover the person with love. Next, ask God for your own additional blessings. That is how you enjoy the divine balance that God has built into his world. And that is how you avoid the health issues of envy
Stay tuned
Maranatha!
