Revelations

Over the past couple of weeks, one of my prayers has been that God would help me to see people as He sees them, with His vision. It's easy for me to be critical and judgmental when I'm only seeing people from my point of view and with my limited sight. I want to be more understanding of others, particularly those who I truly don't "get".

God has been answering my prayer in an unexpected way. Rather than revealing to me other people's motives or problems, He has gently but firmly revealing things about myself to me. There have been numerous times over the past couple of weeks when I've started to pass judgment on someone for their perceived laziness or stubborness or whinyness, and all of a sudden God softly speaks to me and reminds me of times when I've acted the same way.

I suppose that, to best see others how God sees them, I must first see myself as God sees me. As I become more sensitive to my sinful nature, I am slower to judge others. (I can't say that I'm not judging at all...but it is coming slower than in the past!)

Further, as I become more aware of my sins, I become more aware of the need of God's grace. And then I am more aware of others' need of grace in their own lives. And so I'm finding myself a little slower to criticize or complain about others, because God is helping me to see so much of myself in them.

As I said, it's been an unexpected way to reveal things to me. But it's definitely eye-opening.

Confession Time

Do you ever wish you had do-over days? I do, especially when I realize that I've screwed up. Friday was one of those days for me. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I'm stressed out at work, I find myself struggling to maintain a good attitude toward my co-workers. Well, Friday was one of those days where I let stress get to me.

That morning I had to call a co-worker in for some assistance. He works in a different department and I don't deal with him much, but on the rare occasions that I do, I don't look forward to it. He has a personality that is very diferent from mine, and very different from most of my other co-workers. Sometimes the way that he conveys things makes it seem like he is talking down to us, and that rubs me the wrong way.

On Friday morning I asked him a question and he gave a response that just flew all over me and got my water hot. Now, deep down in my heart, I am sure that he meant it to be joking, and not mean and sarcastic (as it sounded to my judgmental ears). In retrospect, I should have chalked the comment up to this person just having a different sense of humor, and let the comment go and forget about it.

But, no, I had to go and tell a couple of co-workers about his comment and how it peeved me off. At the time, it felt good to vent and blow off that steam. But I quickly began to feel guilt over my reaction. I can't control how this guy speaks to me or my co-workers. I can't control it if he comes off acting and sounding like a jerk at times. But I can control my response, and I'm ashamed to say that my response was sinful. Not only did I harbor a bitter reaction to the guy, but I gossiped about it with other co-workers.

Of course, the things that tend to offend us most often are characteristics or habits that we ourselves have. I have a tendency to be sarcastic and quick witted, and my responses, while meant to evoke laughter, can sometimes inadvertently offend someone. So that makes it even worse that I don't cut this co-worker more slack, when he was probably just aiming for a quick laugh as well.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend about the need to extend grace towards people who hurt us. This morning as I thought about that particular discussion, God gently but firmly chided me for not exhibiting grace towards this co-worker. Once again I fell prey to opening my mouth when I should have kept it firmly shut.

And so my request for prayers at work continues...Although I can't have Friday back for a "do-over", I am thankful that God's mercies are new every morning, and that tomorrow can be a much better day than Friday was.

What We Deserve

The feeling of entitlement is prevalent in our society. McDonald's built a major campaign based on the notion that we "deserve a break today." And many times we give ourselves that break. We make excuses for our actions by telling ourselves that we "deserve" it.

"I had a hard day at work, so I deserve to eat a hot fudge sundae/go shoe shopping/spend hours on my Playstation/fill in the blank..."

Or maybe we excuse our inaction: "I had to stay up late last night, so I'm sleeping in and skipping Sunday school. I deserve a full night's sleep."

Many times we treat other people in the way that we feel they deserve: "She's always short with me, so I'm not going to go out of my way to be polite. She deserves to have a taste of her own medicine." Or we treat them a certain way because we feel they we deserve to be treated better: "He doesn't call me when he says he's going to. I deserve better than that."

Sometimes people who feel they aren't getting the treatment they "deserve" choose to end the relationship or friendship. If their mate or friend isn't living up to their standard of how they want to be treated, they take it as a sign to get out of Dodge and find someone who will treat them how they "deserve".

We even plead our case before God, trying to convince Him to give us what we think we deserve (which is always something BETTER--a better job, a better spouse, better friends, better finances, etc.).

But who are we to judge who deserves what kind of treatment? The truth is, if we were treated by God the way we truly deserved, we would have absolutely no hope.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. (Psalm 103:8-10)

Not only is God so merciful in withholding the punishment that we so richly deserve, but He also graciously gives us far more than we could ask or imagine. I certainly did not deserve to be born to Christian parents, raised in a loving Christian home, in a nation where we are allowed to worship God openly. I do not deserve to have all the luxuries that I have, nor do I deserve the great friendships and relationships I've experienced throughout my life.

Instead of focusing on the treatment or tangible things that we feel that we "deserve", spend time today rejoicing in God's mercy and grace in your life. Then commit to treat others around you far better than THEY deserve--and watch God's grace continue to flow in and through your life in new ways.