Are You A Quick-Change Artist?

 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” 

Romans 7:15 (NIV) 

    “Well, guess what?” my mother said to me as she arrived home from work. “I just saw a quick-change artist.” My 9-year-old brain was confused. “I’m not sure what that is,” I replied. She explained it this way. “A quick-change artist can, within seconds, change from one outfit to another during a performance. The person watching in the audience is in awe of how fast it happens.” Then she continued: “I was that person watching about 20 minutes ago.” She continued. 

    “As I turned to drive through Dederick, I saw two young men in a car in front of me. Suddenly, without missing a beat, the driver and the passenger changed places! One jumped up and over in the air and the other slid under. So the passenger was now the driver of the car and the driver was now the passenger. In seconds!” 

   “But why? I asked her. “Why in the world would they do that?” My mother nodded her head. “I wondered the same thing until I saw the vehicle driving toward us. It was the sheriff. And I realized that whoever was driving the car at first, was not supposed to be doing that.” My next question came quickly. “Did they fool the sheriff?” My mother smiled. “No, they did not. He turned around with his lights on and they pulled over. Their quick-change act did not fool him at all.”

   As I remembered the experience my mother shared with me, it caused me to think about times in my life when I, too, have been a quick-change artist. Let me explain. I watched a show on TV that was not appropriate for a Christian mother and quickly changed it when my children walked into the room. I taught a Bible study on being careful how we speak about others and 10 minutes later I was commenting negatively about a friend. Can you relate at all?

   Just as the sheriff wasn’t fooled by the quick-change artist, neither is the Lord fooled by our actions. Maybe the comments we made or thought about someone will never be made known to the person, but they will never be hidden from the Lord and He will not be fooled. He sees our hearts. He knows our motives. 

   What can we do? How can we change this sin - and it is a sin - of saying or doing the opposite of what we should be doing? Even Paul struggled with it. He says in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” 

   We must be committed to doing battle - daily battle. We have to fill our hearts and minds with the Word of God.  It requires digging deep into the Scriptures and must be accompanied by repentance and a true desire to be like Jesus. Are we going to fail at times? Yes, because we are human. But we worship a God of second chances, who forgives when we repent and encourages us to start over in our walk with Him. Commit everything you do and say to Jesus. Give Him all your thoughts and actions. When you do, you will remain His child and never have to be a quick-change artist. 

    Father, forgive me for changing my behavior and beliefs depending on where I am and who I am with. Help me to keep my life focused on you.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Have you ever done or said the exact opposite of what you knew you should do or say?

• Were you convicted of what you did wrong or did you try to justify it?

Apply

• Before saying or doing the opposite of what Jesus teaches, count to 10. Then count to 10 again.

• Was the situation or conversation better because you stayed silent? Repeat as necessary. 

Power

• Romans 7:15 (NIV) “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” 

• Psalm 55:21 (NIV) “His speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.” 

• Proverbs 21:2 (NIV) “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” 

Except For One

                  “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” 

James 4:17 (NIV)

            Not even a broken hand could keep my daughter from playing basketball in middle school. After just a few weeks of wearing a cast, she was cleared by the physician to play ball again with one stipulation: her hand had to be wrapped and cushioned during every game. It was healing perfectly and he didn’t want to take the chance that it might get re-injured.

    The injury did nothing to keep her from scoring points – and a lot of them – almost every game. At one particular contest with a major basketball rival, she had scored 20 points by halftime, even with a broken hand.  But something strange happened during the third and fourth quarters: the girls on the other team switched from trying to steal the ball from our daughter to grabbing and twisting her hand. Except for one.

    At first, my husband and I thought it was simply accidental but we quickly realized that the opposing team had one focus: to hurt her hand to the point that she couldn’t continue playing. Except for one. 

   We could hardly contain our anger at the look of pain on our daughter’s face as girl after girl tried to twist and pull her hand and she struggled to get away from them and continue to play. Except for one.

    When the game finally ended, our team had won by 10 points. All the girls on the opposing team went through the congratulations line and high-fived my daughter’s wrapped hand extra hard as they mumbled “Good game.” Except for one.

    As the girls left the locker room, our daughter walked over to us, holding her hand against her chest. It was obviously hurting her. But something else happened. The one girl on the team - the only one who never tried to grab her hand or hit it extra hard also walked toward us.

    “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for what just happened,” she told our daughter. “At halftime, our coach told all of us on the team to try to grab your broken hand and hurt it so you would not be able to play the rest of the game.” She continued. “I just couldn’t do it. It was wrong. I just wanted you to know.” My daughter hugged her and smiled, “Thank you.”  

    Were there no other girls on that team who also believed that what their coach wanted them to do was wrong? There had to have been more than just one – and there might have been. And yet, only one had the courage to stand up for what was right, even though she knew her coach might punish her for not obeying what he told the team to do.

    I cannot help but apply the details of this ball game to my life. Have there been times when I ignored “the good” spoken of in James 4:17 that I knew I should be doing and instead of being the “except for one,” I joined the crowd? Surely not!  What about the elderly neighbor I knew was longing for company? The money I should have slipped to the single mom at the store but I spent on yet another item of clothing that I didn’t need. The lady at the gas station in tears who needed to know how much Jesus loved her. I hate to tell you but my answer is “yes.”

    What about you? Can you relate? This Scripture quietly but firmly speaks to our hearts. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” You and I may be the “except one” that the Lord is sending to those around us. And when we ignore His nudging, we sin. Period.

    My encouragement for all of us is to look for ways to do good for those around us. God gives us strength and courage to leave the crowd and be an example of Jesus in every opportunity we have. Never forget that you may be the “except for one” in someone’s life.

    Father, please help me to be bold and to be a positive influence in the lives of those around me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.  

 R.A.P. it up . . .

 Reflect

• Can you think of a situation where you knew the positive action – the “good” - you should do but you did not speak up?

• What was your reason for not speaking up or taking action?

Apply

• Look at situations from the last week when you should have acted as the Lord commands. How did you react? Could you have been the “except one” for the Lord? 

• Journal each situation and the response that the Lord wants you to have. Look for ways you can be the “except for one” as you “do good” around you.

Power

• James 4:17 (NIV) “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

• Romans 12:21 (NIV) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

• James 1:22 (NIV) “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”              

 

The Best You That You Can Be

 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

         My husband never could sing on key. Not. One. Single. Note. It wasn’t that he didn’t try. My goodness, he tried and tried and tried. But it never happened.   The sad part to me was that he never knew if he was on or off-key. His only clue would be the reaction of people around him when he sang.

   For example, people in the row in front of us at church would subtly glance at him when he sang during worship. He would see them frowning, lean over to me, and whisper “Way off?” to which I would always, quietly but honestly respond “Yes. Yes, you are. Totally.” But that never seemed to keep him from singing and singing loudly.

         I felt so badly for him that I convinced our family to start a new tradition: singing “Happy Birthday” as off-key as possible.  I thought it would make him happy to “blend in” with the crowd. But I was wrong. “Why did you change the way we sing Happy Birthday?” my husband asked me. In my mind I thought “Are you nuts? I did it because you sing so badly!” but I responded, “I thought you might like to sing it differently for a change.”

         He smiled. “I know why you did it. You think I feel out of place with my singing and you don’t want me to feel bad, right?” I nodded as he went on. “Honestly, honey, it doesn’t bother me at all!” (Enter my “seriously?” face.) But he continued. “This is the way I look at it. God made songbirds and He made crows. I just happen to be a crow. And I decided a long time ago that I would be the best crow I could be.”

    What a lesson for me! My husband didn’t complain about being a crow. He never asked God to change him to a songbird. He didn’t even question his plight in life of always singing off-key. He simply worked his hardest to be the best crow that God created. And he praised the Lord in his best crow voice every time he sang.

    My husband had learned an important lesson from Colossians 3:23-24. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” That’s a lesson I need to learn as well.

   How about you? What has God gifted you with? The voice of a songbird or that of a crow? In other words, what are you doing with what you have been given by the Creator? Not everyone is an opera singer. Some may be a grand ole opry singer. Some people hand out fast food at work and others work at eating fast food. Is one better than the other? More loved by God? Absolutely not! 

    No matter what I am and what I do, I long to be the best at it and to work at it because I truly am working for the Lord who loves me and made me just the way I am. Are you a songbird? Great! Are you a crow? Super! All that God asks you to do is to work at being the best “you” that you can be!

    Father, you tell me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you for creating me to live for you. I pray I will serve you with my whole heart. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

    R.A.P. it up

Reflect      

• Have you ever thought that you needed to be the same as everyone else in order to be loved by God?

• Did you feel inferior because you thought you weren’t as talented as other people?

Apply

•  In your journal, write this at the top of your page “God has created me to be.” Under that write down all that you are: truck driver, nurse, mother, custodian, teacher, wife.

• Begin each morning by asking the Lord to help you work hard to be the best that you can be. He is faithful.

Power 

• Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

• Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

• Isaiah 64:8 (NIV) “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

·       

The Itemized List

 “Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.”

Proverbs 20:22 (NIV)

   The bitterness in the woman’s voice in the next room caught my attention as I walked into the main office of an auto shop.  It was an innocent request - “I want the itemized statement sent to him today.” - except for the fury in each word she emphasized. I envisioned shots from a rifle with each syllable being aimed at its victim with 100% accuracy.  

   I had an appointment to have my car inspected at a restore and refinish auto shop after a minor bumper mishap. From the tone of her voice, I assumed the vehicle belonging to the angry woman must have sustained an exorbitant amount of damage. It sounded as though she was having every single part replaced as she listed item after item that needed to be ordered.

   “And one last thing,” she concluded. “I want a new paint job. He’s gonna be sorry by the time this is done.” I almost pitied the guy who hit her car. “Must have been some collision,” I thought as the man talking with her laughed. “What about new leather seats?” he asked. “Sure, why not,” she replied. “He’s got the money. He’s getting the bill.”  

   As they concluded their business, the woman walked into the main office where I was sitting and, with a glance over her shoulder, made one final comment to the man as she left: “He thinks I am just going to have a few things updated on my car. Just wait until he gets the bill! This is going to be great! I’ll teach him to divorce me!” and with a laugh she was gone.

   Getting even. Oh, haven’t we all been there? “He said” or “She did” and we immediately believe we have a right to hold a grudge and to inflict judgment ourselves. Now, I know you may be thinking “But you have no idea what has happened to me and what he/she did and how sad and hurt I am.” and that is very true, just as I have no idea what happened in this woman’s divorce. 

   But I can tell you that, after she had inflicted her damage to her former husband’s billfold in revenge, there was no joy in her laugh. I also know that resentment and bitterness do more harm to you than to the person you are resentful and bitter toward. Your physical health is affected immediately and, more importantly, your spiritual health is compromised.

   Forgiving does not mean that you accept as right the wrong done to you. It simply means that you trust God to turn that wrong into a right for His glory. The woman’s itemized statement was in reality a list that included revenge, bitterness, resentment, anger, and unforgiveness.

   If you have an itemized statement like hers, I urge you to truly count the cost and write “forgiven” under the amount due.  

   Father, I have had a “get even” attitude so many times in my life. Please help me to look at all situations through your eyes and to learn to forgive. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.  

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Can you think of an instance in your life when someone committed a wrong against you?

• What was your first reaction? To get even or to forgive?

Apply

• Make a list of the wrongs that have been done to you.

• Beside each one write “forgiven” and the Scripture that applies. Then forgive.

Power 

• Proverbs 20:22 (NIV) “Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.”

• Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV) “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

• Leviticus 19:18 (NIV) “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”