WHAT'S UP WITH YOU??
I've been slowly learning that we need to act in a way that people ask, what is different about you? What is so different that you can go through the same horrible situation that I do (money situation, baby daddy drama, family feuds, church hurt, etc...), but you don't look like you feel the disgust that I do. You don't hate. You don't seek revenge. You instead keep your joy!
You should want them to say I want that! Tell me what that is!!!
When you go through a difficult situation, especially if someone does you wrong, people will say you're justified to hate and seek revenge. It even makes them feel better to see you get mad because they genuinely hurt for you and want retribution.
I want to be able to tell them that God was justified in abandoning us. God was justified in being disgusted. Justified in punishing us while ignoring us.
But for grace...
...He sent His son! We always want fair in this world, but what we don't realize (myself included in ALL of this, btw) is that grace isn't fair. And where would we be without grace? There's nothing about humanity that deserves forgiveness or deserves eternal life. From our very beginning we chose apple after apple, we lost piece of clothing after piece of clothing and our Creator, OUR FATHER, clothes us anyway thanks to grace. (Genesis 3:21)
You should be the same way. Maybe that man deserves your hatred and your blasts on Facebook, but the only way anyone will see the love of Christ through something horrible is through how you react to it, no matter what the other person deserves. I can't live knowing that the bad things that happen don't have a purpose. This shows us that they do. And it sucks. It sucks what happened and that I'm now saying you are responsible for anything after that, but when you practice a life of authentic joy, it just becomes who you are and you begin to reflect Christ back to the world (our purpose).
Because it's not about what anyone deserves, thank you God. I'm not talking plastering on a fake smile that says I never hurt, being a Christian means I'm immune to pain.
I mean saying This hurts so much, but I have the hope that it won't last forever and I know He's holding me through it. Even though the world says I deserve to hate him, I'm going to pray for him so that God can keep my heart whole. I will come out the other side, but the only way is through Him. (Philippians 4:13)
It's not always about you being strong either. (His strength is perfected in our WEAKness 2 cor 12:9). It's about saying, I'm weak, I CAN'T DO THIS, but I'm a child of the One who can.
People are watching you. Not even in a negative way, waiting for you mess us, but just because we're constantly around people. There a story in Acts 16 (16-34) where Paul and Silas are locked in prison after being severely beaten. In the worst conditions imaginable, underground, forced to stand in pain, it says:
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them."
"the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose"
Not only was everyone set free, but the very jailor that kept them all chained was shown the love of Christ and took that home to his family. If they can do it, you surely can. It doesn't matter if you want to be responsible for this, you are. So, just be careful. Try to do it in little ways starting right now. Remember it's not a fake thing, it's about reflecting the heart of Jesus back to the world.
So, I'm about to do something that scares me to death. I write poetry a lot (mostly free verse) and the sermon that Pastor Steve preached about Paul and Silas inspired one. Not very many people even know I write it let alone have read it, buuuuuuuut...I'm going to share since I've just blogged about it.
The prisoners were alone, scared and
in pain
Literally bound up, hunched over and
bleeding
Found guilty, chained up deep in the
earth
No windows to offer hope of a world beyond
this
Beyond these walls
In the midst of the dirt and blood
and pain
Through the dank air floated
The sound of happy, calm singing
Childlike laughing
They incline their ears to hear
This different type of noise
The stale air around them was
unaccustomed to the sweetness
It resisted but was powerless to mask
it as anything but pure
The songs they heard covered the
darkness with a blanket of praise
They stopped resisting their chains
Still
The prisoners were listening
Both the ones praising and the listeners
were equally bound up
Equally in pain
Charged equally guilty
Yet
Two of them lived out a joy that
demanded that they praise their
Most High God
In want and in plenty
Well fed and when hungry
While in the midst of the most
intense pain
And during the most peaceful calm
They didn’t need a window to see hope
They served the Author of hope
And it just came out of them
Prayers and praise filled every
corner of the prison
And even reached into the heart of
the one standing watch
If you could see the praise in
physical form
Dancing through the prison, you would
see
The praises themselves loosening the
chains around the prisoners
And lifting up their bent backs
Just so they could stand tall when
they surrendered
That is love
Speaking to the listeners
Speaking through the prisoners
Prisoners who were once free
Liberated slaves, choosing chains
Choosing Him over comfort
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