The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.”
~Exodus 2:14 NIV~
You see, the devil wants us to be in a constant state of confusion. He wants us to spend our time being upset with one another and pointing out each other’s flaws instead of working with God to fix what is broken in ourselves. If we can be distracted by what is wrong with someone or something in our lives, then we don’t have to fix what is wrong with ourselves. Our responsibility to be better isn’t meant to be deterred by the actions of others, though. God wants His glory to shine through us in spite of the actions and opinions of others. He wants this for us in spite of what others don’t want to see us accomplish. So, while you’re wasting time fretting over what so-and-so did to you or failed to do for you, you’re missing your opportunity to lift up the One who made you and let everyone see why He loves you so much.
Moses was afraid that someone would find out what he had done when he murdered the Egyptian, but he should have trusted God to use that experience for His glory. Of course, we don’t ever know to do this when we are in the throes of our sinful behavior, but when we look back on these things long after God has healed us we can see that He meant it all for our good. God has already won this war for us, yet we spend so much time getting knocked down and trampled by our mistakes that we forget or fail to do what He put us here to do. Our time is spent on licking our wounds and trying to find others who will sympathize with our emotional distress over what has been done to us or what we’ve had to go through. And they are always easy to find because they’re doing the same thing.
It isn’t necessarily obvious that our trials should not break us or keep us from pursuing our relationship with Christ when we are going through them. We can’t see the value of these things from inside them. No one else can see the point of our sin either, and so we allow their judgment of us to keep us in a place we don’t belong. What’s worse, we start treating others the same way. We generally tend to believe that people can always do better simply because we think they should. Not because we’re doing so much better, but because if they would set a better example for us then maybe we could do what we need to do. As though it would be logical to believe that everyone else’s sin keeps us from making our own progress.
If we would learn to stop looking so hard at what our neighbor is doing and start trying to be the person we think they should be from what we know of Christ, we’d make a lot greater progress toward being who He wants us to be. Make sense? If I’m not busy trying to tell you how to run your life, I can handle what’s happening in mine a whole lot better. That’s the truth; like it or not. But we are busybodies by nature. We don’t like to admit that we aren’t perfect the way we are. We want others to accept our version of perfect and try their hardest to bring themselves up to our standards as though we are something special. We are special, but not if we believe that what makes us special is something we’ve created or conjured up in and of ourselves. We are special because God created us in His image and because He loves us for being what He has made us to be. And sometimes what He has made us to be is an overcomer of the worst possible sinful life. Sometimes His path for us includes doing terrible things and being delivered from them by His mighty hand. In all cases, He knows we will fall short yet He loves us through our darkest hour. He loves us because He knows our hearts and He doesn’t necessarily care how well we can duplicate the efforts of our neighbor if we aren’t doing what He leads us to do.
…and he said to them, “Always think carefully before pronouncing judgment. Remember that you do not judge to please people but to please the Lord. He will be with you when you render the verdict in each case.
~2 Chronicles 19:6 NIV~
answers beliefs faith fear God humility lifestyle people pride thinking
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My name is Rebecca Benston. I’m a Christian. I’m a woman. I’m a mother. I’m a writer. I’m a thinker. When I write fiction, I am usually writing a mystery series called The Rona Shively Stories. My P.I. character, Rona Shively is feisty, fearless and fabulous and is usually caught up in something she doesn’t want to be caught up in. In addition to this series, I also have a blog called Higher Ground for Life. Through this blog, I’m hoping to reach women or anyone who is seeking to develop a relationship with God and give them inspiration to get out there and follow His path for their lives!
I also have a blog called Leading the Follower. This one is my favorite. I write about religion, faith, spirituality and all that goes along with it. What we believe, what we don’t believe, what we are told to believe and how society feels about believing in general. I do a lot of testifying here and some of what I say may make you angry. Most of it will make you think. Some of it will make you cry. Any of it could make you laugh. It’s really up to you.
If you are looking for practical advice, honest conversation, and no nonsense observations about living in today’s world, check out my blogs at http://highergroundbooksandmedia.com and http://www.ronashively.wordpress.com and http://www.highergroundforlife.wordpress.com and http://www.leadingthefollower.wordpress.com. And if you’re so inclined, you can purchase my books and some other great, inspirational works from Higher Ground Books & Media at http://highergroundbooksandmedia.com.
Be blessed!
Leading the Follower 