Skip to main content

Steps

              You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

 

            Frankly, I’m not sure this is the verse I should use. It’s probably bad hermeneutics, but there’s a topic I want to explore and I’m not sure what verse addresses it. Saturday night, I posted a WDA request on social media. As usual, this was because my attitude (the A) was detouring in a direction I knew wasn’t a good one. My boss had asked me to work Sunday afternoon. I can use the money, so I agreed. When I got home, I found that the blueberry bush cage I had built had been knocked down by the windstorm. It’s not a surprise, and it’s not really that big a deal. I’ll fix it.

            No, the problem was the nose-dive of my attitude, and it wasn’t just “Oh, I have to work” or “Oh, I have to rebuild the blueberry cage.” No, what I was trying to avoid a trip down the steps.

                Step one: “My day has been ruined” or, “My life is such a mess!”

                Step two: “What’s wrong with me?” or, “What is God trying to teach me?”

                Step three: “I’m a failure” or, “God is disappointed with me – again.”

                Step four: “This is my life…my destiny… misery forever…”

             Over the past 24 hours, one of my thoughts is that I need to learn to separate things that happen in my life into categories. Just because something happens that I don’t want to doesn’t mean that my day or my life is ruined. I can have a bad moment or mood without a bad day, year, or life.

            And, of course, we all know that, intellectually. But my attitude is where my fight begins and ends. I may know better, but I tend to tromp down a couple of the steps listed above - sometimes several – before I even notice I’m doing it again.

            Another ways we tend to harm ourselves with trips down steps involves the steps of “it’s not my fault” and “it’s all _______’s fault.” You might know of or use others. Knowing where your emotional feet tend to take you may help. So might keeping in mind that while you may do things that tend to harm you (whether you mean to or not), God still means them for good.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more