“Do not judge, and
you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive,
and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 (NIV)
For
some reason, I have the unenviable ability to pass judgment on people and
situations and then get caught with my foot in my mouth time and time again.
Here is one example:
A
few summers ago, I was driving home from a city about 30 miles away. My little
brown van with no air conditioning resented the over 100 degree weather even
more than I did. My three friends (or at least they WERE my friends before the
trip) liked the heat even less
.
Suddenly
my van began to cough and sputter and choke – similar to what WE were doing in
the heat. I couldn’t keep myself from groaning with frustration as I managed to
guide the now silent machine with steam seeping from its hood to the side of
the highway.
None
of us knew anything about cars, so we stood beside the van with the hood up,
glaring at the engine as if we expected it to apologize for its behavior, fix
itself immediately, and hum on command. All this as traffic ignored us for
several minutes and continued to zip by.
Suddenly
I realized what I should have been doing when the problem first occurred: I
prayed. “Lord, please send us somebody who knows something about cars!” I
whispered.
It
could not have been more than one minute later that my friends and I heard an
engine reduce its speed and turned to see a guy and girl on a motorcycle pass
us, slow down (as if having second thoughts) and finally come to a stop several
feet ahead of us on the side of the highway
.
My
excitement turned to instant disappointment as the young man on the motorcycle
took off his helmet and turned to face us. A dirty, red bandana tied back
blonde matted sweat-soaked hair that appeared to have never had a lasting
relationship with scissors or water. Tattoos of someone named “Cheryl” were evident
from east to west and the look was complimented by leather arm bands accented
with silver spikes.
In
my mind he resembled someone from a bad movie titled “The Hippie Who Conquered
Outer Space.” I was confused. God must be hard of hearing! “Hey,” I prayed
silently. “I asked for somebody who knows something about cars – NOT someone
who looks like he came from Mars!”
As
he walked toward us, the young man smiled slowly and asked “Need some help?” We
all stared for a moment and finally I volunteered “Well, yes, but I don’t think
you can help us. We need someone who is familiar with cars.”
He
just smiled that easy smile again and said “Well, I’m not sure about the
“familiar” part but I AM an auto mechanic. Will that do?” as he tightened a
part here and adjusted a switch there and the car jumped to life
.
I
immediately apologized and thanked the young man for his help. But two thoughts
also occurred to me. First, God answered my prayer instantly – within one
minute! But secondly – and sadly - my response was not one of gratefulness and
praise. Nope. I responded with complaining because I didn’t like the way His
answer looked.
God sent the perfect answer – an auto mechanic
– to fix my car so I could continue home. But instead of a “hallelujah”
response, I judged how the man looked and the human part of me, the selfish,
judgmental part of me, questioned why God would send someone to help me who (I
thought) had no idea how to fix my problem.
Not
only did I apologize to this young man but I also apologized to the Creator of
the Universe. Forgive me, Lord, for my attitude! Please keep working on
me. I think I have a long way to go!
Father, forgive my arrogance for trying to
tell you how to answer my prayer. Forgive me when you send me exactly what I
need but I am so judgmental that I don’t recognize your answer to my situation.
Please continue to work on my attitude and help me to look at others as you do
and to remember that you are in control of all things. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
R.A.P. it up . . .
Reflect
· Is
there a friend who you need to ask to forgive you for judgmental comments you
have made about her? Has being judgmental become a life style for you?
· Do
you find yourself continually questioning whether God truly answers your
prayers in the way He thinks is best or do YOU think you know better what you
need?
· Ask
a prayer warrior friend to hold you accountable for your attitude, conversations
and comments.
Apply
· Ask
the Lord to show you areas in your life where you are judgmental. Examine your
conversations for the last week. Were you judgmental?
· Write
down your prayer requests in a journal. Add why you are praying this request
and then beside it write “Not my will but yours, Lord.”
· Journal
His answers to your requests and thank Him for knowing what is best for you all
the time.
Power
· Luke
6:37 (NIV) “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you
will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
· Matthew
12:36 (NIV) “But I tell you that men will have to give account for every
careless word they have spoken.”
· Ephesians
4:32 (NIV) “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.”
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