The words break free of my mouth, before I can think them through,
before I remember, the words of God, that tells, of the damage they will do.
As the last word, in the long ranting, damaging train does its part,
the sorrow, the remorse is already being felt inside my heart.
I don’t want to hurt, and I certainly don’t want to be mean as well,
so why then do I do this over and over again? Can you tell?
If only there was some way to stop, and think, before I spoke,
then perhaps, the other person, wouldn’t feel as if they’re being choked.
I pray, and ask God to forgive, and then to help me not to do,
I feel better as if it will never happen again, and I will never again hurt you.
I know the great apostle Paul struggled as well. In 2 Cor. 12:7-10,
He told us that Satan did his best to get him down again.
He begged God to remove this thorn in his flesh,
but God only replied “My grace is enough.” In other words, rest.
Then, “My strength comes into its own in your weakness” so let it be,
so Paul accepted it, realizing that when he is weak, “God works in me!”
So the truth is, on my own, I will never overcome,
but when I am weak, God and I, can become one.
Then, in that moment, before I speak, God’s power will take over,
my response will be of love and peace, and His grace will bring closure.
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
Do you know the first thing Jesus said, when he exited the tomb? “Ta-Da!” Answered a third grader in a Sunday school class one Easter. He probably didn’t, but should have. Perhaps he said, “I told you!” I don’t really know, but it doesn’t matter. What does count is what he did for you and me by dying, being the perfect sacrifice for our wrong doing, and then defeating death at its own game.
How many times have you beat yourself up for not doing your devotions? Me? I used to constantly be black and blue! I didn’t like it. Am I not serious about serving God? I used to ask myself. I wanted to make God happy with me, so why did I constantly feel as though I was disappointing him?
“No! I won’t give it to him,” cried out the six year old.
How can we sum this up? All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:
Well, here you are. In the middle of life, and honestly, it’s not what you expected. What do you do? Give up? Run away? Get a divorce? The attraction is; wherever I go has to be better than this! Disappointing job, house, spouse, church, etc. doesn’t really matter. It sucks!
The above conversation was changed a bit, but is true. It’s something I had noticed as well, but didn’t know anyone else had. Several years ago I begin to see that after I walked into a place of business, any business, they started getting very busy. One day I had understanding as to why. It is because I am a child of God and I am blessed and highly favored. Therefore, the places I visit are blessed as well. The blessings don’t stop there either. I find favor among men in many ways and at many times, and am blessed.
brady, mark a. 