This morning started out terribly.
On my way to work, some random guy
yelled at me because of something in traffic that was not my fault.
This is where I say that I smiled and drove on, shining the radiant
light of Jesus in me.
And then this is where I tell you the
truth, that instead of doing that I shouted “you idiot!” back at
him.
Oops.
This is my natural instinct. How sad,
right?
Immediately after it happened, I was so
upset that I told God right then and there that I wasn't apologizing.
Why should I apologize for another person's wrong? It's not my
fault, it's not MY fault!
And here I sit, thinking, nothing was
Jesus' fault, but here I am...SAVED.
Oh grace, what a beautiful thing.
I tell this story because it is the
opposite of what I want to be, and really the opposite of what I have
been these past few months. Lately, and mostly after my trip back
from Haiti, I have been trying desperately to be an encourager. I
have looked at God's word and what I, as a woman, am called to.
Encouragement is one of those things.
I am not naturally inclined to this,
necessarily. It is natural for me to encourage children, and of
course teenagers, when I teach them.
But this kind of encouragement was to
anyone I came across. Sure, I am definitely called to encourage and
esteem brothers and sisters, but of course being an encourager should
be something that reaches everyone I come into contact with.
God is the ultimate encourager, and He
is teaching me that I can be like Him in that way.
My heart is what needs to change, and
at the very root, I need to think of others before I think of myself.
I need to encourage in good times, and
in bad.
I need to encourage the happy, and
sad....the drivers who love me, and the drivers who hate and yell at
me.
It's not always going to be easy, but
then again, walking with the Lord isn't always easy.
But it's good. Oh, it's GOOD!
In Christ,
Lilia
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