The Plumbline

Don’t do wrong to anyone to pay them back for doing wrong to you. Or don’t insult anyone to pay them back for insulting you. But ask God to bless them.  (I Peter 3:9) Okay, gonna ask a revealing question today: "When someone does you 'wrong', what is your first response?" If you are anything like me, you might think it wasn't exactly 'fair' for them to treat you that way, and even think you'd like to 'get even' a bit. It is kind of like you want them to know exactly how they hurt you, but you know they most likely won't feel the same hurt as you do. Truth be told, we can all deal with the 'getting even' kind of response from time to time, but is it God's desire for us to respond that way? Absolutely not! Does he understand it hurts us? Yes, but he has prepared much more for us in 'blessing our enemy' than we will ever get out of 'hurting them'! Asking God to bless someone who has hurt us deeply is probably one of...

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13) Nicolas Chamfort said, "The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed." Laughter is not always from a cheerful and giddy heart. There are many times it conceals a hurt much deeper than the naked eye can see. There is little mirth in fear, but someone who is fearful can giggle or laugh in their nervousness over the situation. Sometimes there is very little 'amusement' in what is going on in someone's life, but there will be laughter instead of tears. We may never know what a laugh really conceals, but when we are open to being led by the Holy Spirit, the opportunity to help someone past their fear, grief, or inner pain may reveal itself. What makes a heart heavy? We all realize loss can weigh a heart down, sometimes for a long time. There are times when our heart is made heavy because of what we are feeling for others - experiencing just a bit of t...