What concerns you? I am asking you to consider what around you gives you concern? Outside of the obvious health, family, employment, and income, what bothers you enough to get concerned about it, what?
Consider these statements:
I don't know why they don't talk to anyone...
I don't like the way they talk to me...
I wish they were not so loud...
I can't believe they bought a new car...
I wish they would park their cars in their garage...
I wish they would keep their landscape nicer...
It would be nice if I could afford to remodel every year...
Ever said or thought things like this? We all have at some point looked out into out visible world and wished that something or someone were different. That is a natural thing to do, but it is not a Christian thing. What?? Throwing out the Christian card? Yep!
What would happen if you considered your neighbor first? What struggles they might have:
Maybe they don't talk because they don't feel welcome...
Maybe they talk harsh because they just received horrible family news...
Maybe they are loud unknowingly because no one let them know...
Maybe that is the first new car they ever bought and have been saving for years...
Maybe their garage is full of stuff they need and have no room for cars...
Maybe they are so tight with their finances gardening is the last thing on their list...
Maybe there was a problem and remodeling was a necessary thing...
What if? What if we stopped considering how things affect us first, and were to consider our neighbor first...? Even if their reason for whatever bugs you does not meet your standards...what if?
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?" (Luke 6:41 NLT)
Well, would that change things? Would it? It does for me...it changes everything. It takes a whole load off of me from wondering why someone is doing something that affects me, to wondering what might be going on in their lives. It takes me from the place of "They owe me..." to the place of "I wonder how I can pray for them..."
That changes everything.
Jesus told us what matters most - love. And most importantly showing it. When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus responded with two - Love God and Love others. And He was very specific as to the how about both, but the about others is a really tough one:
"A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:39 NLT)
Do others really deserve to be loved like I do? If you're like me that question is always a tough one...an impossible one to say the least. But we are not the least, we are children of the Living God, the Creator of the universe and author of life. So maybe, just maybe, He knows a way that will lighten our load, set us free, and bring us peace...peace beyond our own understanding...
So waddaya think? Worth a shot isn't it? In these trying times are you wondering where God is? Why He is not more visible when we need Him the most? Maybe God is closer than you think...join us as we take a look at a book in the Bible (Esther) where God is not even mentioned but obviously apparent, and how maybe we are facing the same situation today.
Serving our Savior,
Pastor Pat
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