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Why is it when we have 10 cookies in our hand, the only thing we see is the 2 in our brother’s hand? Why is the last piece of pizza always the most delicious? Why is the best car the one we left on the lot?
There’s something in us that can be never be satisfied with having; we must get. It’s the successful hunt, the thrill of acquisition, the joy of adding one more marble to the sack. The grass is always a better shade of greenliness in the next lawn.
There are few men in the Bible who show this tendency more clearly than our good pal Haman. Now here was a man who literally had (almost) everything. He was wealthy, he was the best bud of the most powerful man in the world, he had supportive and homicidal friends, and a wife who knew that a gallows is the answer to all of life’s problems. What more could any man ask for?
THE BUR IN HAMAN’S SADDLE
Apparently the unquestioning obedience of a minor civil servant. One man who wouldn’t give Haman his props, and all the rest of his possessions and power meant nothing. And let’s not forget, Mordecai didn’t rally a mob or raise the banner of revolt; he wore ratty clothes and sat in garbage. But that wasn’t enough for Haman.
The truth is, there will always be something that prevents our lives from being “perfect.” No matter how many degrees we get, how high in the organization we advance, how fast we can run, how many hot dogs we can eat in a minute, there will always be somebody better. We can either be happy for what we have, or be miserable for what we don’t.
SAY WHEN
John D. Rockefeller, arguably the wealthiest man who has ever lived in America, was once asked how much money it would take to make someone happy. His answer: “Just a little more.” Ole J-Rock knew the truth; having the most money in the world means nothing. You just want the little that you don’t. (Ask King David).
Haman was focused only on the thing he couldn’t control. When he was elevated to the highest position in the land, he saw only the Jews. When he managed to find a way to get rid of all the Jews, he saw only the one man who didn’t submit fast enough. He let his obsessive for power and control determine his actions.
And in the end, he lost everything.
