Interesting how God works. I had another post halfway finished before a quick thunderstorm shut down the power in the entire northern part of our county for a couple of hours.
Don't worry--you didn't miss anything.
It was just me pouting and whining about always having to be the one to apologize first when a friend of loved one gets impatient with me. Well, rather, whining how my impatient family/friends NEVER seem to apologize for BEING impatient with me. Naturally, every time one of them snaps at me, at least 2 scriptures immediately come to mind: Be kind one to another, compassionate, and forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you--Ephesians 4:32
and also:
Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, accepting one another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. Above all, put on love--the perfect bond of unity--Colossians 3:12-14
Actually, the verse in Colossians continues: Let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts--verse 15.
In spite of those verses, sometimes I simply grow weary of having to walk on egg shells around friends and loved ones--always wondering when I'm going to get snapped at. I'd just as soon back away--far away, and not be around them.
So, that's what you've missed. Not really anything new, huh? Since the power was off for a couple of hours, that gave me time to think. How would love respond in those situations? How did Jesus respond when His friends scattered at His arrest? Peter denied even knowing him! Of course, Jesus already knew that it would happen. Did having this foreknowledge enable Jesus to "guard his heart" against that sting of rejection? I don't know. I do know that Jesus knew what was in the heart of man, and simply knew not to trust them. So, really, nothing surprised Him when any one member of humanity started acting inconsistently with love. That's just humanity.
Well, then, why should I be surprised when I'm treated like that as well? Is it really a surprise when "someone else" gets impatient with me? What if the situation were reversed? Do I loose patience with my students? My sons? Inanimate objects? Of course I do. When I do loose patience with other people, do I go apologize after I've cooled down a bit? Depends. Confession: I have to admit, I have tried apologizing to some, but some will take that apology and bury you with it. So, admittedly, my apologize are a case by case thing.
God really did do me a great blessing by having the power go out when it did. Still had shelter, water, the temps were bearable. Only thing was, I simply had no way to vent my frustration. Instead, I took that time to read some in the scripture, and came across this verse:
II Corinthians 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so our comfort overflows through Christ."
This was Paul talking about his own discomfort, but by experiencing them, he was able to pass his comfort he received from God, onto others.
Oh yeah, God is definitely the God of comfort. Question is, will we allow Him to comfort us? Will we let Him be God, and us be the children?
When others lash out at you--snuggle up to Jesus. It won't keep the others from lashing out, but it will help us to not wallow in self-pity. Trust me--been there done that.
Enjoy your snuggle time with Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment