Putting Down the Sledgehammer

“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

True confessions (they’re good for the soul Psalm 119:26):  I tend to rush to judgment.  More confessions:  I usually don’t stop there.   I whip the sledgehammer out of my purse like Mary Poppins, and beat the poor, unsuspecting victim silly with it.  It looks a bit like Terry Tate, the office linebacker in the Reebok commercial.

Sadly, my kids could tell you stories.  Many, many stories.  I like to say it’s because I played too much Whack-a-Mole as a kid.  But, that’s just not true.  It’s putting lipstick on the pig.  And, it’s not funny at all.  Especially for the victims.

It hasn’t always been this way.  When I was younger, I believed the best in people.  It was easy then.  I hadn’t really been hurt before—really hurt, worst nightmare hurt.  Oh sure, there was the occasional betrayal by a friend, or the person everyone knew to stay away from, but I hadn’t had the rug completely pulled out from under me before, in a life-changing kind of way.  There is no one word I can find that adequately describes what that kind of hurt does to a person.

But God, who loves us so infinitely, so immediately. . . even reaches us in that place.  He walks with us patiently, strengthens us, and yes, faithfully prunes and refines us.

He’s teaching me to put the sledgehammer back in my purse, reminding me that He’s got this—whatever this happens to be.  He had it then, too, when I was hurt.  Recently after I hurt someone close to me due to my own fear of being hurt again, God showed me this verse in Job 6:24:

‬”Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.”‭‭ Job‬ ‭6:24

He’s amazing, isn’t He?  How He takes even the worst, most evil circumstances that happen in our sinful world, and He weaves them into a beautiful tapestry. . . in us. . . if we will allow Him.

Roman’s 8:28-29 reminds us of this.  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”  

I want to be conformed into His image, and needed the reminder that He’s still at work in the mess of me.

Maybe you needed the reminder, too.

Goodnight, Runners.


Comments

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    Replies
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