I stared anger straight in the face last week. After
taking time to create a speaking presentation, the opportunity fell through at
the last minute. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t happy about it. In fact, I allowed
myself to marinate in my anger. Ever do that? The longer you stay in it, the
stronger it seems to become. While venting my frustration to a girlfriend of
mine, she said something that brought me to a screeching halt.
You
didn’t deserve that!
You would think a comment like that would only fuel
the flame of my anger, confirming what I felt was a complete injustice. But it
didn’t. Instead it knocked the wind out
of me, immediately causing tears to stream down my face.
Lord,
please forgive me for thinking this is something I deserve.
I wasn’t entitled to that opportunity. It was given
to me by God’s grace and taken away again by His sovereignty. Who was I to
question His plan? Whatever the situation was, my only job was to trust that He
had my best interest in mind. He was orchestrating something greater than I
could imagine. This was not about what I deserved.
Frankly, I hope God never gives me what I deserve. I
know how dark my sin nature is and where I was when I finally cried out to Him.
I’m fully aware of how selfish I am in the midst of great need. I wage war with
my pride every day and I lose more often than I care to admit. I don’t want to see what I would deserve based on all of that.
This time of year seems to be overrun with entitlement. Moments spent with friends and family will either fill you to overflowing or sadly disappoint
you. What if we approach this time of year without worrying about what we
deserve? If we don’t create unrealistic expectations for our loved ones, then
we won’t be hurt when they aren’t able to measure up to them. God gives us His
mercy, grace, and love when we have done nothing to deserve it. Maybe we should
just pass those same gifts onto everyone else...
Be blessed,
Jennifer
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows.” James 1:17
4 comments:
Thanks for your transparency, Jennifer. Yes, praise God, He doesn't give us what we deserve!
Christmas blessings...
Thank you Vonda. Merry Christmas to you sweet sista! :)
Jennifer, this is a great post. Thank you. I needed to read it this morning :) Can't wait to get together after Christmas.
Yay God! I'm so glad this was a blessing to you today Lori. He is so good to encourage our hearts right where we are.
Have a wonderful Christmas and I will see you in a few weeks. I can't wait!
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