Let us continue to think of God’s people who did, and sometimes did not, learn what it meant to have a God who is El Shaddai.
§
Balaam claimed to be a mouthpiece for Shaddai
(Num. 24:4,16). Yet, in the end, his
greed kept him from actually trusting the “All-sufficient One.”
§
Naomi initially seemed to “blame” the Almighty
for her sad situation (Ruth 1:20-21) but by the end of the story she knew His
faithfulness (Ruth 4:
§
Job: The name El Shaddai is thirty-one
times in the story of Job, used both by Job and his friends. They are trying to reconcile Job’s desperate
state with the fact of the Almighty God.
But as always, God is faithful.
§ Paul
knew God as his provider: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also
made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of
the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:5-6).
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There are others we can speak of whose failure
to trust in God as their Portion or as El Shaddai reveal “symptoms” of selfish
ambition. Notice that each of these were
characterized by dissension.
§
The Israelites showed discontent by their critical
spirit (Ex. 16:2-3).
§
Lot, Abraham’s nephew, showed he did not trust
God as his provider by choosing to live among the wicked people of Sodom. He valued the good land and abundance of
water, and yet suffered tragically for this choice (Gen. 13:5-13). For selfish ambition he put himself in a
position of temptation.
§
King Saul’s jealousy and envy showed he did not
trust God as his Portion, which led to his ruin and loss of the kingdom (1 Sam.
18:6-9).
§
The Twelve Disciples exhibited personal
ambition, seeking fame rather than to be servants of God (Mk. 10:35-45).
We noted in a previous post that the issue of “selfish
ambition” is all over the Scriptures. We
have given several examples, and some of the symptoms that reveal its presence
in our lives. This is an important
matter. Lack of contentment can destroy
us financially (Prov. 3:31), lead to sexual immorality (Prov. 5:18), cause our
marriage (1 Cor. 7:12-13) or health (Prov. 25:16) to fail, and lead us into ruinous
relationships (Prov. 24:1-2). Thus, we should consider our lives, priorities
and habits. Are we manifesting the symptoms
of selfish ambition, such as a critical spirit?
We should also look for manifestations that
God truly is our Portion. El Shaddai satisfies
the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness (Ps. 107:9). From Him we receive grace for every good work
(2 Cor. 9:8), supply for every need (Phil. 4:19) and power for every task
(Phil. 4:13).
Lord willing we will conclude our look at contentment
in the next post.
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