UnGodly Decisions

In my years at Liberty Christian College (a LONG time ago), I took some counseling courses. One of the things I learned about was 'unGodly decisions'. These are decisions, or vows, we can make in response to hurt or pain. These pains can be real or imagined. We are faced with these choices in just about every aspect of our lives. One of my decisions from college was when I chose to show someone in leadership over me what my version of a bad attitude was. Sound childish? It is. But you don't have to be a child or immature to make that kind of decision.

I have found myself struggling with that response even in recent years. If I don't like someone else's judgement of me, my knee jerk response is to want to show them what their judgement really looks like. Now, either I'm shallow and immature, or I'm a sinner trying to learn from past mistakes. Wonder if the two really are the same thing? But that's a longer debate and for a future blog. To tell the truth, I thought I'd learned this lesson several years ago, but just when you think it's safe to go back into the water...

So what response does He ask of us? I don't think it's the one the little boy is having in this picture! In praying this through and receiving Godly counsel, I have questions that we should ask ourselves when faced with situations like this:

• Is this something that the Lord has been trying to tell you that you haven't been listening or open to? He is so gracious that He will never speak to you without first using His 'gentle' voice. Maybe it's something that needs to be exposed, that we've been trying to hide. If that's the case, take it straight to the Cross. Ask for, then receive forgiveness. Learn from it and try not to repeat history.
• Is this out of the blue? Did you have no warning? If this is the case, then examine yourself. Is it true? If it isn't true and you've been following your obligations to the best of your ability, then look outside of yourself.
• This may not even be about you! The person and issue that you are struggling with, could actually be their struggle. Sometimes we really are just innocent bystanders. They may be under stress and/or the Lord could be dealing with them in some area. If this is the case, them we have a huge responsibility. We aren't allowed to take offence. What we are allowed to do is to pray for and bless them. All the while continuing to fulfill our obligations.

None of these are easy or fun! I know, because I've done the opposite of all of these. Which also means that I keep running into the same situation. Same song, second verse. We aren't in a classroom. We don't have teachers who write a giant 'F' on our papers when we fail the tests of life. But our Father does 'hold us back'. He will repeat the same test, over and over, until we pass it. Makes you think that maybe a written test would be easier, doesn't it? These tests aren't fun, but He promises that the rewards are worth it!