82 of 365 - Collaboration over competition

And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. 1 Samuel 19:1

Over time, David has much success in battle and the people love him. This makes Saul (still the king) very jealous, so he plots to kill David. Instead of working together and strengthening the kingdom, Saul wants to get rid of his “competition.” He lets his ego and pride cause strife among them.

How many times do we do the same? Instead of seeing someone as an ally, we see them as competition. Instead of supporting someone and cheering for their gifts, we are jealous and secretly root for their failure. And in this scenario, no one wins. Everyone is weaker; the Kingdom is weaker.

As a result of Saul’s jealous rage, David spends much of his waiting time in hiding. He is a gifted musician and writer. He pens many of the poems recorded in Psalms in our Bible.

The Psalms are beautiful words of faithfulness, worship, and also pain. David is brutally honest in his words to God. He pours his heart out.

This is what God wants from us too. God knows everything – our thoughts, fears, passions, pains, sins, hopes, dreams, questions…all of it. But He wants us to bring it to Him. He isn’t afraid of our questions and He doesn’t condemn our confessions. He already knows them all. He loves us and what He wants more than anything is a relationship with us.  And He is a God of abundance, not scarcity.  There is more than enough to go around.

David’s life and words in Psalms are a beautiful example of a relationship between man and God. I heard someone say once “intimacy = into me, see.” This was David. He poured his heart out to the Lord.

Questions: Do you find your natural reaction to other people’s success to be one of envy or excitement for them? How has jealousy ruined situations and relationships in your life? Ask God to give you a heart to cheer for those you might be tempted to be jealous of. Ask Him to show you His abundance…that He has good plans for all of us…we never have to look at someone else and feel that we are missing out. If you are feeling discouraged, open the Psalms and read David’s words.