Have you ever felt like someone has done you wrong? You sit back and evaluate what led up to the situation and can't find reasonable justification for why he or she did this or that to you. Your fists clench. You grit your teeth. You want to tell them off... or something. You're left with 2 options. Let go and launch into them... or... pray that God would help you understand and learn from the situation. Let's go to the Word for some insight.
Romans 12:14-21 (The Message)
14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
We often do all that we can to try to justify the response that our "flesh" would desire. "Give 'em what for!" Jesus, in speaking to the Pharisees shed some insight into this line of reasoning:
Matthew 12:34-37 (The Message)
34-37"You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."
Wow. That was pretty clearly stated. So why do we have to endure what we feel are personal attacks on our character? Why would God allow someone to deal with us in a way that we feel is unjust?
James 1:2-4 (The Message)
2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
So let me get this straight... When we face difficulties, when we feel that we have been treated unjustly... we are supposed to thank God for that? Doesn't make sense to our feeble, human minds, huh? Here's what we need to try to wrap our minds around...
Philippians 2:13-18 (New Living Translation)
13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. 17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God,[a] just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. 18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.
Here's what it all boils down to... It's really not about me.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/shannon-wexelberg/tracks/count-it-all-joy--179109263
