I recently found myself in a situation where I needed a professional office to provide documentation to another professional entity on my behalf. The request for the documentation was submitted in a traditional manner and the office needing to provide the documentation was notified of the importance and time-sensitive nature of the request. It took almost three months for the office staff to comply with the request, after having received numerous follow-up requests for the originally requested information from me and the receiving entity.
Needless to say, there were a number of times during the waiting process that I was frustrated and tempted to speak and act out of that frustration. I could feel the tension attempting to rise up in my body. Thankfully, I had been learning to take my problems and circumstances to God and lay them at His feet. And that is what I did. I laid it all at His feet and asked for Him to help – to work out the situation, ensure that I exhibited the attitude and behavior that He wanted me to, and ultimately for His will to be done. And He did just that. He helped me to remain calm and to express my concerns to the people involved time and time again, all while remembering that this was not all about me and that this was not just for me.
We all experience situations that test our patience and our determination to live lives that are pleasing to God. We are faced with a coworker with a less than stellar attitude, a lay off from a job that we have had for years, the onset of mysterious medical symptoms that despite the substantial amounts of time, money, and effort that we have thrown at them remain just that, a mystery. No matter what our background, age, and locale are, we will all experience challenges, just as the Apostle Paul and Barabas preached when they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith,” stating that “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” Acts 14:21-22 NIV.
As we experience difficulties it is easy to center our focus on ourselves – what we see, what we think that we need, how we perceive the challenges to be affecting us. And as we begin to focus more and more on ourselves, we lose sight of the fact that oftentimes the situations that we experience are not for us, they are an avenue that God is going to use to bless, strengthen, or encourage someone else through us. A message that Paul shared with the Corinthian church when he said, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God. Even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved” 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 NIV.
This life is not all about us. It is about Christ’s finished work on the cross and His longing desire that everyone for whom He allowed Himself to be insulted, mocked, beaten, tortured, and murdered through crucifixion would reap the benefit of His sacrifice. This is why we must “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy,” remembering that “without holiness no one will see the Lord” Hebrews 12:14 NIV. Our determination to maintain peace everywhere and with everyone will allow us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world that so desperately needs Him. Be blessed. #sanguinemango
Sanguine Mango 