[pinit count=”horizontal”]Jealousy
Envy
Anger
Bitterness
Normally we do not associate these words with the God-sized Dream journey, but there will come a day when the Green-Eyed Monster will make a debut. And those are his aliases.
One day, you are going to read a post, hear news of some miracle God just performed with another God-sized Dreamer, or watch a dream go viral via social media. And the Green-Eyed Monster will ask questions like:
Why couldn’t that be me?
When is it my turn?
Why does everyone else get to live their dream while I’m still waiting for something to happen with mine?
Will my dream ever come true?
My Green-Eyed Monster showed up when I read an Instagram post that Kate had sold 491 items in less than 10 minutes from her Etsy store, The Adopt Shoppe. Now for an Etsy shop to move that much merchandise in one night is incredible.
The truth is – this is a normal occurrence for Kate. I have been at a few of her sales and jokingly call her Gilt for Etsy. Her items sell in record time each time she hosts a sale.
CONFESSION –I have actually set my alarm to make sure I did not miss a The Adopt Shoppe sale.
On that day, it didn’t shock me at all that she was able to move 491 items in less than 10 minutes. I knew it was God showing up and showing off.
What I have always admired about Kate is that she always gives GLORY to God after each sale and thanks everyone who participates. She is such a humble businesswoman. There is so much I admire about her and hope one day I will reflect that same character.
Yet in that moment when I saw the post, my Green-Eyed Monster came out. As much as I celebrate God’s favor in her life, I wonder if that will ever happen to me. And the thought popped into my head.
Why can’t Clothed in Love sell out of everything in less then 10 minutes?
And then the Holy Spirit reminds…
God does not show His love in a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter way. Our God is not a FAIR God, He is a just God. He will give us what we need, but it may not look the same for each of His children. (<==== Click to tweet)
God loves me and knows my heart. But the lessons I need to learn are different from the lessons Kate needs to learn. Her journey is just that—HER JOURNEY.
Envy can rob you of the joy of being thankful right where you are in your God-sized Dream. Comparing your dream to others can make you give up or throw in the towel.
God-sized Dreams are more about the journey of discovering how much God loves us than the actual dream itself. God wants the relationship with us more than the final product. (<==== Click to tweet)
Truth be told, if I never sell another item from the Clothed in Love store, God would still love me. He would still find ways for us to continue to bless orphans. He would still direct my steps and help me to live out James 1:27:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Don’t let the Green-Eyed Monster take up residence in your heart or mind. Quickly give it an eviction notice so you can receive all the amazing promises God has just for you.
The Green-Eyed Monster will come, but you have to make a choice not to give it power to grow bigger in your life. If you don’t feed it, the jealousy will die and God’s love will replace it.
Keep dreaming and don’t go GREEN.
Shared by: Delonna Gibbs
As I read this, it occurred to me that I have more “green eyed monster” moments than I realize! The biggest one over the course of the past year has been the engagements of my two best friends.
These two girls are two of my strongest allies, my sisters in Christ and the source of many smiles and laughter over the years. They are sisters and the younger sister got engaged first. I felt some envy about that but her engagement was anticipated and because her older sister is my best friend, I quelled it. When the older sister got engaged, the envy came out full force and rather than being happy for her and her new fiancé, I fell apart. I fell into the trap of feeling sorry for myself because I am single and I don’t know when my turn for a healthy relationship and marriage will come. I can honestly say that I abhor the thought of never getting married but I also understand that a healthy relationship needs to have God as its center so if a God-centered relationship never comes, I’ll learn to be okay with my singleness.
It’s been almost a year since my best friend announced her engagement and while some envy is still there, I am working on eradicating it. My goal is that her wedding day will be sweet and not bittersweet. I have realized that I have to change the way that I think and I have to allow God to work on those places. Just as we need to actively pursue God and his purposes for our lives, so too we need to actively give our destructive or envious or bitter thoughts to God and allow him to work on them. I honestly believe that at some point, God will bring the right man along for me. I don’t know when that will be but I can say that in helping to plan these two weddings, I am learning a lot about wedding planning, what works and what doesn’t work! I’m also realizing how expensive it is for both the bride and groom and the other members of the wedding party!
These engagements have actually been a bit of a blessing because they have led me to dream about my own wedding, something I had never truly done before. I know that those dreams are apt to change with time and the forces of reality but in a sense, they’ve opened up a new world of possibilities and honestly, as long as it doesn’t turn into obsession, dreaming is fun!
My point in this long-winded story is one of the points Delonna made in her post: envy, bitterness, jealousy…they all steal away the joy that God so longs for us all to experience. My journey is not my best friend’s journey and wishing that it was does absolutely nothing for me. God has placed me on my journey for a reason. He has placed us all on our varying journeys for a reason. Trust that he knows what is best. You won’t regret it!
Ashley – thank you for sharing your heart and your story. Your words resonated with me. I’m currently in the waiting period for my Boaz so I can totally relate. But continue to lean in and keep dating Jesus. God will gladly give your hand in marriage to the right person for you. Trust in your Heavenly Father’s wisdom and love for you. He wants the VERY BEST for you too!
I hate admitting I have those moments of being jealous and wondering what I’m doing wrong compared to someone else that seems to have things literally falling from Heaven for them :).
I just have to remind myself that my journey is mine and God knows what blessings I can handle at the moment and can’t. Thanks for being real!
I think it is pretty cool that our Heavenly Father knows and loves his children so much that he sends us personalized love letters and blessings that we need in his timing. I think if he rewarded my tantrums then he would have a very spoiled rotten child. I don’t want that to be me 🙂 Although I am pretty sure I have kicked and screamed in the middle of the floor before. LOL. GOD’S GRACE – oh how I love it!
Oh I can so relate to this, unfortunately!! 🙂 Thank you for these reminder that the joy is in the journey!! I love you friend!!
Thanks girl! Let’s keep walking this journey together!
Hi Donna,
Thank you for your boldness and compassion today. Those green meanies are such creeper-feelings,too. They sneak up on us and all of a sudden we feel like we’re the size of gnats. The cool thing is, everyone experiences them at times and when we share them they decrease. We are reminded by God and our friends/families/peers that each of us must “run our own races” to get where God wants us to be. Keep speaking from your heart ♡
“Run our own races” I love that imagine! I’m hoping to run a marathon next year so racing is on my mind. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement.
Delonna
You are so welcome. I must apologize for the autocorrect on my phone it changed your name to “Donna.” I’m getting back into running( slowly), too. You go, girl!! You CAN do this ( take it slow and build up, stretch a lot and add in phonetics for power –i trained and did a Sprint Tri a couple of years ago while working with a trainer-one of the best things I did just for me)
I love this: “God does not show His love in a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter way.” I shamefully admit that I too often wonder why certain people seem to attain success or breakthroughs. Your post is such a good reminder of the ways God works. Thanks, Delonna!
Thanks Mandy! I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who has those Green Eye Monster Moments 🙂
Bless you.
Thank you!
I believe you are not alone having those green monsters from time to time. But, thanks be to God who keeps reminding us from his words and from each other that we are sll unique in his sight:)
Oh yuck! I’m a little too familiar with this monster. I had a revelation about this at one point. As a younger sister of an older sister I idolized, I was so busy looking at her gifts and talents…and wanting them, that I didn’t look at what God had given me. We can literally miss out on our treasures, our calling, our opportunities to serve as we set our eyes on someone else’s. Great reminder Delonna. Thank you!
LOVED THIS! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story, Delonna! 🙂
Here’s the tweet that stood out the most to me, “God-sized Dreams are more about the journey of discovering how much God loves us than the actual dream itself. God wants the relationship with us more than the final product.”
WOW! Amen to ALL that! 🙂