Daily Devotions: Escaping Envy

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

Psalm 73 is one of my favorite psalms. It deals with jealousy and envy. The writer feels that he is losing out of the spoils of life and riches of success. He is faithful to God, but not wealthy. He is a good person surrounded by ‘evil’ people who possess more than he owns.

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He’s suffering from clerical envy, or what I call holy jealousy. And I know exactly how he feels. Pastors are meant to be quiet, unassuming, and humble people. We are supposed to be examples of peace, happiness, and contentment. But we’re not. When it comes to our churches, most of us are territorial and always comparing our failures to the successes of other pastors. I guess it’s a mixture of insecurity and narcissism, instead of faith and loving God.

Anyway, if you take time to read the whole of Psalm 73, you’ll know exactly what I mean. The psalmist expresses his disappointment with God and vehemently points out the wickedness of others. He is essentially saying to God, “I have done everything right and been perfectly faithful. So, why aren’t you blessing me, God?” It’s a question that pastors constantly ask, as well as other Christians in their own workplaces.

The turning point in the psalm occurs when the writer realizes that possessions are only temporary and that his life is meant to serve God, not himself. That’s the part that I like the most because it reminds me not to value myself through the things I own, but to count myself fortunate that I am owned by God. In the end, all of my possessions will turn to dust and my ambitions will all fade away. In the end, only God will be important to me.

Prayer: Lord God, I am sorry that I allow envy and greed, jealousy and ambition to overwhelm my spirit at times. I am sorry that my insecurity and desires take away my contentedness and satisfaction with life. Forgive me, Lord, for surrounding myself with possessions that I cannot hold on to, or things that I will have to leave behind. Help me to focus on the eternal goodness of Your love and the everlasting blessings of Your grace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Erin Daily Devotions: Ambitions

Sometimes our ambitions to succeed can become idolatrous monsters to feed.

I have never really been comfortable around ambitious pastors. I’m of the old school that believes if you want a bigger church to lead, then grow the one that you’re leading right now. I’ve been in ministry for 22 years and in that time I’ve only led two charges. The average time that a pastor spends with one church is about four to five years, so by this time I should be leading my fifth or sixth congregation…if I was truly ambitious.

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It’s not that I don’t have ambitions and dreams for the congregation that I lead, or that I have jettisoned all my hopes and goals for the future. I just think that stability and dependability in pastoral leadership are more important than paper credentials and scholarly works. Those pastors who want to reach the top of the ladder are driven by a worldly view of success. For me, success is listening to God and trying to do what He wants for His Church and its people.

Matthew 20:22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"
"We can," they answered.

When the mother of James and John approaches Jesus about having her two sons sit beside Him in His glorious Kingdom, she is being ambitious on their behalf. Like any mother, she wants the best for her children, so she asks Jesus to grant her sons this ambitious request. James and John don’t ask this of Him directly, probably because they understand that Jesus isn’t big on power struggles within His chosen band of disciples. Sheepishly, they get their mother to petition Christ on their behalf. If they were truly ambitious, they would have personally asked Jesus to grant the request.

I like how Jesus answers them. He lets them all understand that He is also working under a Higher Power and that such a request is not His to give. He makes them aware that in order to be worthy of such a high honor, they would have to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the Kingdom. They answer this positively, in the hope that Christ will give them these positions of power. Jesus accepts their willingness, which has more to do with ambition and greed rather than service and loyalty. They will be required to sacrifice themselves for the cause, but it’s still up to God to allot the appointed thrones on the right and left of Christ.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to be overcome by our ambitions and in our zeal to fulfill our dreams, we lose a precious part of ourselves. James would be martyred for the cause and John would be exiled for many years. They both would pay a heavy price for their ambitions. If we also become obsessed with greatness and glory, then we can lose our humility and honesty, our faith and fidelity. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to be better in our lives, but when we sacrifice our families and friends, our church and our charity, then we have taken the wrong path and have turned our ambition into an idolatrous monster that feeds upon our greed.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep us from grandiose schemes and ambitious dreams that would ruin the precious things in our lives. Help us to maintain a sense of balance, so that our desire to succeed does not become an idol of our greed. Allow us to seek to please You with our faith by placing our goals and dreams into Your hands. May we also use our successes to resource the eternally glorious work of Your Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

Drive By Devotions

Seeking guidance from the Spirit of God can affect the outcome of our plans and goals. Sometimes we have daft notions that go nowhere because we don't put God first.

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Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.

I love this verse. It reminds me that when I’ve used up all of my own strength, energy, and patience, I need to come to the Lord for renewal. Far too often, I try to do things my way and end up becoming frustrated when I cannot produce the results that I want. Instead of submitting to the Lord and giving myself over to be influenced by the Spirit, I wish that the Lord would do what I desire.

For example, many years ago when I was pastor in Dunure, Scotland, I dreamed up the idea of opening the church at 7.00am on a Monday morning, so that commuters could stop and pray before they went to work. The church was on the main road and scores of drivers passed by at that time in the morning.

I envisioned that many drivers would stop and take time to be in the Lord’s House. I got to the church real early, put the lights on and had a tape playing devotional hymns and choruses quietly in the background. I sat in one of the choir seats, read my Bible and prayed for the church. It was quiet and peaceful, and every now and then, I would hear a car passing by.

I think that I did this for about four months. In all of that time, only two people stopped by. Nobody really wanted to take or make the time to be there. I guess they could say their prayers from the comfort of their own cars as the drove by the church. I wanted it to be successful, but God was teaching me a lesson. No matter how hard I wanted it to happen, without His Spirit, it would never work. Instead of relying upon God’s Spirit, I was trying to make God support my ministry. It made me realize that it wasn’t my ministry at all. It belonged to God – what I had to do was to discover where His Spirit was leading.

I still have some daft notions at times, but I usually petition the Spirit first for direction. This ministry belongs to God – I am merely a servant of His Kingdom. The power and the glory, success and honor all belong to God. My role is to submit to the Spirit and seek God’s will.

Perhaps like me, you’re wrestling with God and want Him to make something successful for You. There’s no harm in asking, but ascertain whether it is something for Your sake or the Spirit’s. Knowing that will make all the difference in the world as to whether or not it will be accomplished. As the old preacher once said, “Sometimes we have to let go, in order to let God.”

Prayer: Holy Spirit, we all want to make a difference in the world and do something special with our lives. Grant us patience and endurance, discernment and understanding of what You want us to do with our lives. Open our heart and minds, souls and spirits to Your holy bidding. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.