The Abundant Life of Others

"We never know the whole story.  People have a secret history with God and we can never read the pages of a person's secret history.  We see them on the mountaintop, but we do not know of the climb to the top or of the descent into the valley." - Ron Dunn

Envy and covetousness blind us to the true story of others.  First, when abundance is granted to others, we are called to rejoice with those who rejoice.  Our inclination is in fact quite different.  We are like the small child who just watched his brother open the most awesome Christmas present - we are desperately looking at our wrapped gifts hoping to see the same size package so that we might convince ourselves that we are going to get one too.

But we often don't.  And so, first, we make the world dark and dreary by our lack of rejoicing in the good gifts God has freely given to others.

Second, we very often have absolutely no idea what has gone on in that person's life to get them to the place of that abundance.  We do not know what difficulties, trials, struggles - we are not aware of the cost to get there.  We also do not know what struggles are going on in the person in the moment of abundance, for his life is made up of more than this one, or several, achievements.  And finally, we do not know what the Lord has planned in the gift.  Is it simply blessing; is it preparation for a great trial in the future?  Is it both?

We never know the whole story.  But because we think we do, we fall into covetousness.  We feel sorry for ourselves.  We whine and complain.  And in doing so we show even more clearly that we do not know our own story.