They went about doing good. It’s
Only natural to expect goodly returns
But when rebuffed and rejected
Outraged sons of thunder pleaded,
“Let us, we pray, call down fire upon
These ingrates right now!” Quietly,
Unruffled by repudiation or indignation
The Almighty rebuked, “He who forgets
Purpose, does more harm than the ignorant.
Wake up, this call is not a bed of roses.
For every gift, you shall account;
Privileges, indulgences and dispensation.
You must watch, for without patience
And for lack of restraint, destruction
Tramples and overtakes goodness.”
Life is often not fair but God is always good. His goodness washes over us when we are good and more so when we err. Not to encourage us in the path of error. Instead, His mercy wins and weans us from the ways of errors. I received a call of distress some days back from a sister who was terribly offended and made to pay for someone else’s mischief. She asked me to pray that God convicts and afflicts the offender for the pains and embarrassments she had to suffer. It is only just that people pay for their sins, right?
The understanding of grace dawned on me afresh as I listened to her pains and quests. I recalled Scriptural examples of men and women who paid dearly for their errors. Some paid with their lives and some others, along with their entire households, for offences some of us have committed severally, even graver ones without as much as an obvious reprimand from Abba. People like Achan, Miriam, Uzzah, Annanias and Saphira.
Naturally, we want to call down thunder, fire and brimstone upon the heads of our offenders but like Jesus told James and John then, He yet speaks the same to us today, “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You don’t know the manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.’ ” (Luke 9: 55 – 56.) Is our mission any different from His?
Offences have been and will continue but sound understanding of grace helps us deal appropriately with each situation that comes our way. Our goal is to be like Christ in everything, in every way. The first place to start in dealing with this is, “What would Christ do if He was wearing my shoes?” Secondly, “As you would have men do unto you, so do unto them.”
We may be helpless in stopping offences but we have the power to choose how to deal with each. It is absolute irresponsibility to blame people’s attitudes and actions for our lapses. Knowing who we are, where we are coming from and most importantly, where we are headed should significantly tailor our responses. When our grip on these are firm and sound, offences won’t rub us wrongly and whenever we are toppled, we eventually return to equilibrium and restore order. We won’t continue in the wrong way because we are already there or because we are afraid of turning back. Once the realization of truth settles, we immediately reverse preferring the cost of getting back on track to the benefits of continuing in the wrong way. Why? Because getting to our destination is priority, every other thing is secondary and adjustable.
Oftentimes, we are overcome and carried away by wrong currents; but if your strength fails you in times of adversity, it is not adversity’s fault. Your strength was small. You can hardly do anything right while being carried by a wrong wave, weak or strong. Even our most spiritual activities can be infected or driven by offensive and defensive emotions. Rather than seek and follow the will of God, we improvise and may end up destroying those He seeks to save, ourselves inclusive. You can’t deliver a fatal blow on someone without feeling the impact.
We are not who we are because of people and circumstances. Those didn’t make us and we don’t live by or for them. We are who we are by grace; grace made us what we are and we live by it, for Him. Situations rather expose the makeup of our inner man. They reveal how weak or strong we are and either spread nasty odors of impatience, unforgiveness and bitterness or the gracious fragrance of a heart saturated with God’s compassion. No sin is unforgivable but when we don’t want to let go, we fabricate titles to exonerate ourselves and justify our preferred positions. Whoever rights a wrong with another wrong?
God will not contradict His will or Word to massage our wounded ego but He heals our hurting hearts when we agree to release offender(s) and offence(s), knowing that we often need the same. In this dispensation of grace, mercy precedes judgment, making it seem like God condones sins. As offences surge, grace grows taller, an effective covering from the fatal consequences of judgment. That is why people do things and get away with it, the same reason Paul asked, “Shall we then continue in sin for grace to abound?” (Romans 6:1.)
When you err, what do you expect? In such times, my heart cries out for mercy, forgiveness and kindness. What does yours cry for? Vindication or vengeance? Yet we want to send our offenders to hell. Whenever you are offended, don’t jump into action. Stop before you act, think before you speak, and whatever you decide, don’t forget: “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”
Glory!