The niggling question...
The sermon on Sunday was about not judging. Not criticizing, no meddling in other people's business. I admit that is hard for me. I see the outside of a person's life, their bad days and their good days, and I take that which I see and I build a story of that person in my mind. I decide if they are worthy of grace, of love, of redemption, of mercy.
It is easy to do. It is easy to build a story from what I see on the outside without knowing what is in the heart, what struggles they are facing, what darkness haunts their steps.
My conscience was pricked when I considered the many times I had passed judgement on an individual or a situation without knowing the whole story.
One question niggles at my brain. What to do with the situations that I see that break my heart? The ones that make me fearful of broken relationships. The ones that cause my heart to cry?
Is it passing judgement to see a situation and long to talk to the people involved? To see if they are ok? To linger over the fears of the what ifs and the questions that circumvent those fears? Is it ok to speak to family, friends, neighbors about concerns? Does that also fall under judgement?
And would it be wrong to believe it does fall under being judgemental if that allowed me to listen to my fears and not bring up my concerns because it would be painful or awkward or heartbreaking?
My prayers are ones of begging for wisdom. Crying out to a God Who does all things well, Who loves me and the people I love, Who promises wisdom if we ask. And I pray for an opportunity to speak if He leads or to be quiet if He whispers.
It isn't an easy road to walk in life. We all have bad days and we all could cry in the grocery store sometimes. We could all use a few minutes of quiet when the kids are especially noisy or a few minutes of peace locked in the bathroom when the chaos gets overwhelming. We could all use grace and mercy. We could also use the knowledge that someone cares enough for us to speak even in the hard places and show love even in the face of misunderstanding.
May we seek the face of God and when He reveals those moments when we could judge, may we instead run to Him in prayer. May He have our heart so in the grip of His hand that the first thing we think is not, "who can I tell?" but "how can I pray and show mercy and love to this person." May we stop meddling and let God mend the lives of those around us.
It is easy to do. It is easy to build a story from what I see on the outside without knowing what is in the heart, what struggles they are facing, what darkness haunts their steps.
My conscience was pricked when I considered the many times I had passed judgement on an individual or a situation without knowing the whole story.
One question niggles at my brain. What to do with the situations that I see that break my heart? The ones that make me fearful of broken relationships. The ones that cause my heart to cry?
Is it passing judgement to see a situation and long to talk to the people involved? To see if they are ok? To linger over the fears of the what ifs and the questions that circumvent those fears? Is it ok to speak to family, friends, neighbors about concerns? Does that also fall under judgement?
And would it be wrong to believe it does fall under being judgemental if that allowed me to listen to my fears and not bring up my concerns because it would be painful or awkward or heartbreaking?
My prayers are ones of begging for wisdom. Crying out to a God Who does all things well, Who loves me and the people I love, Who promises wisdom if we ask. And I pray for an opportunity to speak if He leads or to be quiet if He whispers.
It isn't an easy road to walk in life. We all have bad days and we all could cry in the grocery store sometimes. We could all use a few minutes of quiet when the kids are especially noisy or a few minutes of peace locked in the bathroom when the chaos gets overwhelming. We could all use grace and mercy. We could also use the knowledge that someone cares enough for us to speak even in the hard places and show love even in the face of misunderstanding.
May we seek the face of God and when He reveals those moments when we could judge, may we instead run to Him in prayer. May He have our heart so in the grip of His hand that the first thing we think is not, "who can I tell?" but "how can I pray and show mercy and love to this person." May we stop meddling and let God mend the lives of those around us.
Comments
Post a Comment