(One more well-received repeat. A lot has been going on and trying to keep everything moving forward.)
Father…I am troubled at the close of my day. This is not what I began to write about this morning but it is what is weighing on my heart tonight.
Why are we so quick to assault en masse those whom we believe to be taking advantage of “us”? We, the people of Your creation, think different, look different, act different….because we are different! Way too many times we stereotype groups of people and we oft times, without even thinking about it, automatically assume that the individual we see in front of us is going to follow suit with our stereotype. But that is so unfair!
I am trying to be very careful here because the situation I found myself in tonight could easily be played out in any number of scenarios. An individual attempted to do something that many would frown upon as taking undeserved advantage of “us”. I use the word “us” because on many occasions when we feel the “body” of which we are a part is being exploited, we become very defensive. Individuals may be taking advantage of the “body” and we take it personally, as though they are taking advantage of “us”.
Anyway, this individual attempted to do something that many would frown upon as taking undeserved advantage of “us”. The individual was declined but it was handled in such a way that…well, it ended up escalating to something bigger than it probably should have been. After all was said and done, this individual ended up in front of me and I communicated what I was told to communicate. Those telling me to do so felt they were in the right. I did so because I felt the same to some degree as well. But before it all came to head, I truly felt incorrect assumptions had been made and the individual was made to feel humiliated.
I tried to soften things in the end but the damage had been done. I should have said more but other circumstances made that very difficult.
Lord, this whole thing is weighing so heavily on my heart. I feel we were in the wrong. This individual wasn’t out to get “us” but was just trying to take care of things in the corner of the world in which they found themselves. It is water under the bridge and what has been done cannot be undone but…Lord, help me to do better. Help me to think quicker. Help me to be braver – to stand up for the downtrodden –to be the one to stand in the gap. I cannot escape Your command in Mark 12:30-31,
“…you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” and “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Lord, may I love You with everything I’ve got and may I passionately love others, too. Amen.
Mar 8th, 2017, Wed, 11:49 pm
