Tag: hurting

Man Never Measures Up

Have you been hurt by someone who claims to be a Christian? Do you wonder why God allows bad things to happen? Do you question if He exists based on these things?

If you’re human, your answer is probably a resounding YES!

I have a few friends, from all walks of life, who have decided that they want nothing to do with God or deny His existence based on hurts perpetrated by those who claim to know Him.  And while my heart aches for the hurt they’ve endured, I’m deeply saddened by the joy they miss out on. 

I’m no theologian, nor do I have the space here to dive into a deep philosophical discussion.  What I can do is present my experience and belief and let you be the judge. 

Humans are flawed. There is not one who is perfect, except Jesus, when He spent time on Earth as a human. Everyone else? Mistake ridden, evil hearted, self-serving, flawed people.  The only ones who have managed to take a step in a better direction are those who have a relationship with God. And even then, they are full of miscalculation, unintended slights, and general obliviousness to others’ feelings. For those people, they’ve never intended to hurt others, but it still happens. 

Well, why does God allow it? Good question. Of course, the only logical answer is that if you want all that to stop, you just have to end humanity.  Completely.  Harsh.

I’ve heard, “Well, He could just stop them from doing that.” True. But then that takes away their choice, their free will. If He takes away theirs, then it takes away yours by default. Is that really what you want?

God desires us to get to know Him, really get to know Him, by choice. What kind of relationship is it if you’re there because you have to be? How much sweeter is it, when you’re there because you want to be? Once you get introduced to Him, He wants you to make decisions based on your relationship with Him.  I would no sooner buy a car without my husband’s input than I would take a job without God’s. He desires a real relationship where He is talked with (not to), where He is consulted for decisions, and where He gets to spend time with you.  But it is your decision.  Always.  He will not brow beat you.  He will not take away your free choice to decide on Him.

On the other hand, the humans that you measure God by constantly fail.  Man will never measure up. So if you are turning your back on God because of man, your eyes are on the wrong measuring stick. 

It’s hard to live in a world where people run rampant over others and their feelings, but there is One who rules over all of it. If you let Him, He can rule over your heart.  He can help you find compassion, faith, peace, and true joy.  Better than that, He can help you grow in them.  You may find some pale, anemic form of those things without Him.   With Him, though, you can grow it tenfold!

That, my friends, should be the goal.  Grow compassion.  Grow faith.  Grow peace.  Grow joy.  Become less like the self-serving people that offend and hurt.  Become more like God,  abounding in patience and kindness.  Let God guide you into a life filled with peace and joy and understand that it IS guidance and not control. 

He isn’t doing mass manipulation. 

He’s doing individual improvement. 

So the person you’ve allowed to be the measuring stick is still in their own improvement plan. That’s assuming they’re friends with Him. Don’t let the ones who don’t measure up (as in everyone, everywhere) stop you from claiming the joy that He brings when you open up to Him. 

Everything is between you and Him. Make Him your confidant.  He’s the only one who measures up.

If you don’t know Him as your friend, start now! Pray this prayer:

Lord, thank You for caring about me.  Thank You for coming to earth, dying on the cross, raising to life, and giving me hope and a future.  Please forgive me of my sins and make me new by becoming the Lord of my heart.  I invite You to lead me each day to get to know You better.  Thank You for saving me. I pray this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

 

What are shoes?

What are shoes?

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

I woke up on Saturday, October 19th, ready to cry at the drop of a hat.

Maybe it was the stress of my life. Maybe I was just emotional. Who knows? But I was overwhelmed.

Still, it was Jesus Burger day and I was excited to share the Club 3D cards with our Jesus Burger Friends. Jesus Burger is a homeless outreach in our city. Cards from our kids church group, 1st through 6th grade, had been added to the hygiene bags that I go to hand out. They were so precious and I had prayed for the people to be blessed by the simple words of children.

I made it there just as the devotion was getting going, and the leader was saying that you couldn’t care where the people came from, what they looked like, how they talked. That none of that mattered because we were there to love them in the way that Jesus did. Now, I was already emotional, but I felt my heart just shredding at those words. I kept seeing those I had come in contact with in the past and my heart broke for all of them, one by one. Friends, do not pray “break my heart for what breaks Yours” unless you are prepared for the grief. I hurt the whole day. And while only a couple of hours was spent at Jesus Burger, the impact lasted ALL day. A week later and I was still raw. I can still, today, feel the shards of grief that are stuck like slivers in my heart.

Today Mr. Monte Wike spoke of the verse above in Psalms, how God daily loads us with benefits. But it’s like the manna from heaven for the Israelites. It is enough for the day, and yet renews each morning. All I could think was that I didn’t understand my emotions and that I didn’t even know what I needed and here’s Mr. Monte telling us that God gives us what we need-daily. Which is . . . Well, just simple minded, really. Of course God knows what I need, and daily – and it doesn’t matter if I know or not, He knows what I need.

I left the devotion thanking God that He takes care of my simple minded self and went to hand out hygiene bags. While handing out the bags, a lady approached. She is a regular there. Usually she comes with a friend, but today, she was alone. Someone asked about her friend who always comes with her and she said she had committed suicide. That was a stab through my heart.

A little bit after that a man came up and I cringed, spiritually, from him. I didn’t understand my reaction, so I pushed myself to talk to him. He was pleasant enough. But then the women started coming and it became very evident that he was their pimp. He, and his friend, avoided going anywhere near the pulpit and the singing/preaching. My spirit was angry. My heart hurt. And I was silenced by God.

A woman came up. She was wearing shoes that were 3 sizes too big. She asked for 8.5 sized shoes. There were none. My heart broke again. Jesus said “give her yours“. I argued. I didn’t have a spare set in my car. I have to go to work. I can’t go barefoot. “Give her yours“. And what am I supposed to do? “Give her yours“. I discreetly took my shoes off and said “hey, see if these will fit”. She was so excited. She tried them on. Next thing I know, she has them off, handed to a man, and is trying on another pair from . . . where? And she’s saying how God is so good as she’s walking away with the last pair on and my pair dangling from the hand of the man with her.

What the . . . But I can’t be mad. I just want to cry.

Because I don’t have it in me to be mad.

Because Jesus gave them away, not me.

Because my heart hurts.

Because God loads us daily with benefits.

Because another soul took her own life and what are shoes compared to that?

Because there are women slaved to prostitute, and what are shoes compared to that?

Because most of these I meet at Jesus Burger have no home, no washing machine, no electricity, no running water, no transportation.

And what are shoes, compared to that?