This morning as I continue my study with the word “will” I am reminded of how jealousy/envy play on our lives and how we progress in this world. I am reading Genesis 37 of Joseph and his brothers. The brothers were jealous/envious of Joseph as he was the favorite of the father, Jacob. It was no secret and they had it out for him. Not to mention that Joseph had dreamed that they would bow down to him, which made things even worse.

The brothers were filled with such jealousy/envy that the began to conspire to rid themselves of Joseph. I am not sure as to what they thought they would receive for doing so, only that with Joseph out of the picture, they would somehow be elevated in position with Jacob. But we do not see this in the text here. We only see that they wanted to rid themselves of the shadow that was Joseph and as such, they took to irrational action.

“’²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.’ ²²And Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ‘²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers listened to him. ³¹Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.” – Genesis 37:20,22,27,&31 (ESV)

Look at the above verses and see all of the discussion and action taken by the brothers of Joseph. Does any of it seem rational. And, I see the web being created that if one of them were to find conviction, would be able to unravel. This is not rational action of any kind, and it is all due to the jealousy/envy they had for Joseph.

What did Joseph really do? Well, he was loved by his father. He dreamed and interpreted those dreams. The actions of the brothers were that of those who were jealous/envious of Joseph for things that were not really of his doing. Sure, Joseph could have held his dream interpretation to himself, but the dream and its meaning was from God which was completely missed here.

The brothers reacted irrationally as they did not work to understand all that had or was occurring. Doesn’t that happen all the time in our world even today? Think about all of the actions of bad actors and the reasons they are doing them. Largely it is due to jealousy/envy of something or someone. And that something or someone are not doing things intentionally to others, it is just the thoughts and feelings manifest from the evil one that lead to the jealousy/envy and those irrational actions.

How do we get past them? We slow down and work to understand. We work to realize that whatever is for others is for them and that whatever is for us is for us. There is no reason for jealousy/envy in my individual world. God has a plan for me and I am to be content in that plan and the receipts from that plan. Paul says it best.

“¹¹Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” – Philippians 4:11 (ESV)

What are you jealous/envious of? Are you taking actions based on your jealousy/envy and is it rational to take those actions? What if you were to instead, slow down and understand the work you are taking for the LORD and to be content with that which He provides for you as a result?