May 4, 2016

Show Kindness and Compassion

“In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord your Redeemer. -- Isaiah 54:8

I am so grateful for God’s kindness and compassion. Every day I fail Him and every day He takes me back.

I try to remember that when I am called to show that same kindness and compassion to others. I want to remember they deserve from me what God has given so graciously.

Yesterday I was at a large super center. Not by choice, I might add. I really do try to avoid the place, sometimes paying more for an item just so I can get in and out of the store quickly. But there are times when you really have no other options.

I mention this because of what happened at the cash register when I paid for my item. The cashier rang up my purchase with ease. Then she accidentally hit the wrong key, telling the computerized register I‘d paid with a $20 instead of a $10.

An easy fix, right? She got her calculator out but she couldn’t figure out how much money she owed me. She was beginning to get really flustered.

I looked at the couple behind me. They looked at me. “I think it’ll just be $10 less than what the screen is showing,” I told her. She worked it on the calculator and a big sigh escaped. “That’s right.”

Panic averted. She handed me my change and I headed out the door. I have no idea how it worked out when she turned in her cash drawer but I hope her bosses understood.

She was trying, you know? She really was. I admire that. The way she got so flustered I had to wonder if she’s been put down for mistakes in the past. Were their times when words have battered her self esteem?

How many times have I not been kind when someone didn’t meet my expectations? How often have I thrown off a comment without stopping to consider where and how it would land?

What about you? Do you consider your words when faced with frustrations? Do you condemn or do you show compassion? It’s something we all need to think about.

February 13, 2016

Prepare Yourself For God

no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord

-- Isaiah 54:17

There’s a scene in the movie Facing the Giants where a man who earlier was shown walking the halls and praying for the school comes in to talk with the coach. He tells the coach not to worry about losing his job because only God can remove him and God isn’t ready to do that yet.

The coach follows him into the hall and asks if the man really believes God told him to share that with the coach. Then the man tells a story about two men who asked God to send rain. One waited for God to send the rain. The other went out and prepared his fields in preparation for the rain he knew God would send.

Which one had the greater faith? The one who prepared his fields because he knew God would answer his prayer.

What are you waiting for? Are you standing idle while you wait for God to perform some miracle? Are you sitting down lazily waiting for God to prepare your path?

There’s a difference between waiting for God’s directive and remaining idle during the waiting process. God calls us to be worker bees, even when the task is simply preparing for what’s to come.

In the movie the coach devised a plan and changed his coaching philosophy. In so doing, he changed his players. This allowed God to work greatly through all of them -- when the time was right. Had the coach not prepared for God’s movement, nothing ever would have happened.

What is God calling you to do? How can you prepare for where He will lead you? Spend time in prayer and with the Bible. Listen to what He says. And prepare for a great work that He will surely do in your life.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

God's Love Never Fails

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. -- Isaiah 54:10

Does God love you? Does He love me? How about that person who cut you off in traffic? Does God love the child molester just sentenced to prison? What about the murderer on death row? Does God love him too? Squirming yet? Yeah, I figured you would be.

We want God to love the "good" people, the ones who only sin in ways we think are "acceptable." We all sin. Everybody knows that. But surely God sees the difference between a person who tells a lie and a person steals. Doesn't He? We are more worthy than someone who does all those awful things. Aren't we?

All sin is bad and separates us from God. It's why Jesus died such a cruel death as He paid for our sins. My sins. Your sins. And, yes, the sins of the people who molest and kill others. Jesus died for all of us, whether we're willing to acknowledge that truth or not. Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who repents and asks for forgiveness, is welcomed into eternal life -- no matter what they've done in the past.

It's called grace. None of us deserve it. And yet God extends it to all of us. There is nothing any of us can do that can make Him stop loving us. Nothing. That's pretty amazing and something that is beyond anything we humans can comprehend. Maybe that's why we try to categorize sin and justify our own sinful actions. We're trying to understand something that is beyond our understanding.

Maybe we just need to stop trying to understand and just drop to our knees in thanks. God's love is everlasting. He is faithful and true. Nothing can ever shake His love for us. Amazing! Simply amazing!