Monday, October 3, 2011

Follow God's Lead

Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, “I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,” says the Lord.

-- Romans 12:19 (Deuteronomy 32:35)

Restraint has never been my strong point. I’m one to speak first and then -- sometimes -- regret it. How about you? Do you speak or act first or do you weigh your words and actions before you do anything?

I’ve been participating in a Beth Moore Bible study on David. He showed remarkable restraint in dealing with Saul. Many times David could have ended Saul’s life but he wouldn’t do it. Even though Saul kept trying to end David’s life, David would not harm God’s anointed king. Instead, David waited for God to take care of the matter in His own time.

I was reviewing my lesson when that word “restraint” just popped out at me. Funny how that works. I’d completely forgotten about it just a short time earlier. Or maybe I didn’t. I simply decided to calm down before I dealt with an unpleasant issue. I asked God to help me. Maybe that wasn’t real restraint but it was a step forward for me.

Of course, I’ll have the opportunity to practice more restraint tomorrow. I am not being unreasonable. Truly. I simply find it infuriating that a neighbor apparently thinks it’s okay to toss his limbs and tree trimmings over the fence for me to deal with. We’re not talking about a small pile. That I could let slide. This pile will take numerous trips with the tractor and at least a couple of hours of work to remove. I am not a happy camper. But I am a restrained camper. Sort of.

The sort of comes because of the second act. The first half of the pile came last week. The second act was added sometime Saturday afternoon. I’m afraid to think of what might come if I don’t say something. I tell myself he’s an old man. I remind myself he -- or someone -- managed to cut all those limbs and shrubbery. That person surely could dispose of it as well.

Maybe restraint involves being nice. But firm. Maybe restraint means not saying what I really mean and rather saying what is necessary to get my point across. Maybe restraint means no threats. With God’s help, maybe I could even be nice and smile. Maybe I could use kindness and mercy rather than hardness and anger. Maybe that’s restraint.

I’m not sure why this man decided it was okay to do this but I do know that God will work it all out. He knows what‘s going on, just like He knows how much I have on my plate right now and how little patience I have to deal with someone else’s issues. So I’ll take a deep breath. And maybe I’ll smile. And I’ll try to be kind and practice a little restraint.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Follow God's Laws

"They are not just idle words for you -- they are your life." -- Deuteronomy 32:47a

A co-worker and I were reminiscing yesterday about how things have changed since we were in school. Today an assistant elementary school principal eagerly talked about his eventual retirement. Things are different, he explained. Parents are electronically tuned in but not really present. It makes for a difficult situation.

I see it every day. Parents walking through Walmart, a cell phone glued to their ear and their children trailing along. I watch them scheduling their kids for every activity possible except just playtime. They're the ones in the drive-thru getting supper on the go. They rush, rush, rush but they don't listen. They don't teach. They don't have time.

How are our children ever going to learn if we don't teach them? As the Bible says, God's laws aren't just idle words. They are our life. They are the moral code we live by. Without God, we are nothing.

We want our children to simply "know" right from wrong. We don't want to take the extra time to teach them the correct path. It's easier to let it go when a clerk gives us too much change. But children see and hear what we do. When we do nothing, they see that taking what isn't ours is okay so long as no one knows.

We can no longer count on schools to teach our children God's law. Churches are wonderful but only if we attend regularly and we reinforce their teachings with our own words and actions. When it comes down to it, children learn far more from our actions than anything we might say.

Moses warned the Israelites to follow God's law so all would go well with them. He was right then and he's right today. Those basic rules for living are what we must teach our children. They are rules we must live by. They are our life.