Which column has the most zeros

 A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace. (Proverbs 14:14) What does your 'paycheck' look like today? Are you seeing lots and lots of zeros behind that 'grace' number, or more of them behind that 'meanness' number? Mean people aren't exactly the kind of people we want to hang around with on a regular basis, are they? In fact, we most likely want to 'put their lights out' on occasion, wishing they'd just back off and find somewhere else to do their dirty work. We don't always respond in grace toward the meanie, do we? In fact, we might just find ourselves wanting to be a little 'mean' in response!

Why do mean people evoke a defensive response from us rather than a gracious response? It could just be that we see a bit of that same 'meanness' within ourselves! We might not always realize that mean streak exists within us, but when it is revealed, it is time to let God deal with it so that a gracious response is elicited in the face of meanness the next time. Jesus told his disciples that God's kingdom was made up of individuals who actually use the grace of God in their lives to learn to turn the other cheek. (Matthew 5:39) This idea of 'turning the other cheek' is a much harder lesson to learn than just 'letting it rip'. Emotional 'control' isn't accomplished as a matter of willpower - it is accomplished as a matter of Spirit-power within.

When we encounter mean people, who attempt to bring us down through mean actions or words, we can lean into the power the Holy Spirit gives each of us. We never control the other person's behavior, but we can be in control of how we respond to it - especially when we have the wherewithal to lean into God's grace and the Spirit's presence within us. I have found that responding with grace is really the result of the Holy Spirit reminding me that I don't always know the 'deeper issue' within that individual that is causing that other person to respond in mean ways. God's grace might help us look beyond the 'mean act' or mean words', but it could also be that his grace revealed through you brings the other person to their knees. 

I think this is why God reminded his people that they are not responsible for vengeance - he is. He will use the grace we respond with to 'undo' the individual who responds out of meanness and emotional hurt. That 'undoing' of the individual is not our job - it is God's. We might not like the way they are acting but rest assured - God takes note of both their action and our response to it. Let your grace-column begin to overrun your 'meanness-column' and you might just begin to see God's movement in that other person's life a little more each time you do. Just sayin!

Alive and Well - Because of Him

Were you fortunate to have the kind of friend on the playground who actually stood up for you when the bullies came to make trouble for you? I remember more than one of those occasions when the group of playground thugs would be headed my way - a loner on the playground, nary a friend close by to stand up for me. It made me very uncomfortable and the rest of the day usually went fairly poorly because others would have observed their ability to put me down, driving home some point about how I didn't really 'fit' in their crowd. Amazing what a bully can do to one's self-worth - making one feel lower than dirt. I no longer face 'bullies' in this life alone - Christ stands up for me!

Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against evil workers? If God hadn’t been there for me, I never would have made it. The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,” your love, God, took hold and held me fast. When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up. (Psalm 94:18-19)

If God hadn't been there....those words mean a great deal to me - how about you? If God hadn't been there when pressures got to be too much for me to handle - what might have come in my life? The pressures might have consumed me. The sheer exhaustion of continuing to fight against those things that caused the pressures to mount would have overtaken me. If God hadn't been there when the biopsies were pending - what might my mind have convinced my body existed? My mind might have convinced me there was not hope - no good diagnosis that ever could come. Who stood by me as my mind created images of 'malignant' until the doctors proclaimed 'benign' - Jesus himself. 

As the world around us seems to be crashing in and our footing seems to be slipping away, there is no greater foothold we can have than his presence and peace. I don't know why God keeps taking me back to this lesson from time to time in life. At the moment, there is no pressure too great, nor are there any 'impending' declarations, yet he returns me to this passage today. Maybe it is just to remind myself (and you) of his faithfulness - that there is no challenge too great; no 'bully' too strong'; no wickedness too dark for him. In Christ, we stand where others fall. In Christ, we walk away from the 'bullies' unscathed because they don't speak truth - we are valued far more than they will ever realize. 

God takes our 'upset' and sets us right. He takes our escalated emotions and evens them out again. He takes our worst worries and releases us from their burden until we are free to worship him without burden or grief. Those playground days are gone for me - the taunting, teasing, and times of others having fun at my expense. Today's challenges may be a little more 'sophisticated' though - for the 'bullies' of this world will always exists - attempting to convince each of us that we are not worth much to anyone. As those taunts come - remember this - your worth is declared as far above any other - worth so much in fact that the price paid to set us free was the 'ultimate price'. Just sayin!

Joyfulness and Justice - Journeying On

We are well underway with our exploration of the character traits of a child of God - those traits which actually "reflect" better than any "image" we see of ourselves in the mirror on our wall.  Today, we consider our "J" list - Justice and Joyfulness.  I have chosen a rather long passage, but I think it is rich with blessing.  Justice is really another way of saying we live in such a manner so as to display right conduct.  In dealing with others, and often ourselves, we are equitable in treating others as God has treated us.  Now, at first, this seems a little too easy for us to simply respond, "Check", and move on.  Let me assure you, living "just" lives is a lot harder than some of the other traits we have explored to date!  In fact, because it deals with the behaviors of others, often in reflection of the way they have treated us, it is one of the hardest ones to master!  

Train me, God, to walk straight; then I’ll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord; I’ve never kept secret what you’re up to. You’ve always been great toward me—what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster! God, these bullies have reared their heads! A gang of thugs is after me— and they don’t care a thing about you. But you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much you love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, As you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet.  (Psalm 86:11-17 MSG)

Here we find David faced by some folks in his life who we might say didn't welcome him with open arms - in fact, they were out to get him!  Life just isn't going David's way at the moment!  The "bullies" are abounding.  Do you know what a bully is?  It is someone who "badgers" another person because they think the other person is actually WEAKER than they are!  They see the other person as "smaller" or "less significant".  Imagine that!  They saw David, the man with a heart after God's own heart, as "smaller" or "weaker" than them!  Isn't this just the way people who don't serve the Lord see Christians? They almost shake their head in disbelief that we'd need some kind of "crutch" like Jesus to get through life!  Let me assure those of you who might have been told Jesus was some "crutch" you needed in life - he is life itself, not just some "support" we lean upon!  

The times when "justice" becomes evident in our lives are those when our fellow men see an area of "weakness" in our lives as an opportunity to focus their attack.  Let me give you a little secret - most of us already know where our areas of weakness are and we have something our enemy doesn't know about - God's strength manifest in the very spot our weakness shines through!  Look at our passage again - David is not bemoaning the bullying of his attackers - for he sees this as the very moment God will be totally on display in his life.  Justice will prevail - first in his own life, and then in his dealings with those who seek to intimidate, demean, tear down, cause havoc to abound, and just simply make his life miserable!  Why?  He has learned to rely upon the one thing which always remains consistent - even in his inconsistency.  That one thing is God's character - his grace, kindness, gentleness and even his power.  

Let's not forget the progression we see in this passage.  David begins with his own attitude and purpose in the interactions with these "bullies".  He asks God to set HIS path straight - to have HIS mind and heart put together, undivided and determined.  This is where justice begins - with the setting straight of US!  When our hearts and minds are blameless, we stand strong in the midst of whatever the "bullies" throw our way.  What does this "putting together" process assure David of in his life?  Simply put, he will not be dependent upon the circumstances of life in determining what gives him happiness in life - he will be joyful in the justice of God, first toward him, then toward his enemies.  Look at what he asks God - make a how much you love me, God!  Have you ever prayed that prayer?  Have you ever faced some of the toughest enemies of your life and prayed that God would just put himself on display in your life in all his fullness and glory?  When you do, he is honored to answer that prayer!

So, justice and joyfulness really are inter-related, just as so many of our other "traits" have been.  Whenever we begin to see our weakness as God's opportunity, we also might just count on our "bullying" friends to see it as their opportunity to attack where we are the weakest.  Yet, in those moments of attack, God's putting us together, giving us the integrity to stand strong, and letting his justice to shine through.  In these times, we stand in joyful awe of what God does, how he uses us to shut down the bullies, and just how much power he puts on display where we only saw the extremes of weakness.

On a final note, let me just say David got pushed around a little by life's bullies.  In fact, he notes it is God who will "put him back on his feet".  This might just indicate every "pushing around" we get from the "bullying enemies" in our lives won't leave us standing quite as strong as we hoped.  In those times, take heart - God is there to help you back onto your feet.  Relationship "bullies" abound - some push us down a little more than we'd like.  God stands at the ready to help us back up on our feet again.  We only need to rely upon his outstretched hand to pull us up.  Financial "bullies" taunt and toy with us - his providing hand is at the ready.  Health "bullies" plague us with worries galore - his carefully tender hand is at the ready to soothe our pain and ease our worries.  We do "get down" in life, but remembering there is a difference between happiness and joyfulness may just be the key to where we look when we are "down".  We may be down, but not for the count!  Just sayin!