The Plumbline

Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.  The rich and poor have this in common: The Lord made them both. (Proverbs 22:1-2 NLT) The beliefs or opinions one holds about another are usually the result of their behavior or how they have performed at some point. The same is true about how they 'see' us. It can be very biased when it only takes in certain behaviors and not all the others we might exhibit along the way. Time and circumstances may cause one to have a certain reputation, but it is possible it isn't a true picture of that individual at all - it is just what we saw at the moment that caused us to believe what we believe. A person can be said to be 'good' or 'bad' based on what we observe in their behavior. The value one places on another's behavior is based on what one believes about that behavior. If you are outspoken but the other is rather soft spoken, you make think them weak or timid...

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? (Proverbs 20:24 NLT) Do you have to understand everything before you ever undertake the first steps into something new? Too many times, we limit God by having to understand all that he is doing or all that is happening in the moment. He wants us to follow the path he marks out, trusting him as we take each step, knowing he has prepared those steps/events well in advance of us taking that first step. The more we question, the more we reveal our lack of trust in God. We must trust his guidance and lean into his goodness. He won't ask more of us than he will equip us to do, nor will he ask us to do things that are harmful. He watches over our steps, one by one, until the mission he asks of us is complete. Needing to understand every little thing he is doing isn't realistic. Some of what he does now is for our future - the steps we have yet to take down the road. Without those first steps, there would...