The Way God Works
For the past month, my high school students have been reading the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The book is set in the 1930's and the plot revolves around a black man that has been falsely accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus Finch (The Lawyer) decided to take on the case of defending this man, even though he knew it meant that he would be looked down upon and would receive insult after insult by the white community. Even though he was consistenly put down by others, he continued to treat those people with respect and dignity.
The main lesson that Atticus was trying to teach his two young children through this case and his actions towards others, is that you can't make assumptions about people until you have walked a mile in their shoes. This theme is all throughout the book. As my students have been reading this novel, we have been talking a lot about how often we tend to think certain things about people without even knowing who they truly are.
Well, the Lord has been teaching me this lesson this week. For the past week, my husband and I have had a 19-year old staying at our house. He came to Clermont from Wisconsin because he wanted to help our church (we are a new church plant) out in different areas. Well, "John" is a free spirit. He's all about adventure and he's all about developing relationships with others. He's also a college age student. One who doesn't always clean up his room or his mess in the kitchen. If you know me, you know that I tend to be a clean freak! So, it has taken some adjusting on my part. At one point, I was allowing myself to really get mad about all of this. At one point, I was getting annoyed by the smallest things. Then it happened. The Lord really spoke to me. He reminded me of what I was just teaching my students this past week. He reminded me of who it is that we are called to love. He reminded me of those people that he reached out to. All I have to do is think of the 12 Disciples. Talk about a crazy group of men. I'm sure they were not always the easiest men to get along with. But you know what, the Lord loved them, believed in them, and helped them in any way possible. And guess what-The Lord has told me that this is what I need to do with "John"-love him, encourage him, and help him in any way possible even if I get "annoyed" at times.
So, who in your life is the Lord calling you to love, encourage, and help? Who are those people in your life that tend to annoy you?
When you start to get annoyed with someone, remember how patient the Lord is with us. His love for us never fails. He continues to believe in us, encourage us, and help us-if we will allow Him to.
For the past month, my high school students have been reading the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The book is set in the 1930's and the plot revolves around a black man that has been falsely accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus Finch (The Lawyer) decided to take on the case of defending this man, even though he knew it meant that he would be looked down upon and would receive insult after insult by the white community. Even though he was consistenly put down by others, he continued to treat those people with respect and dignity.
The main lesson that Atticus was trying to teach his two young children through this case and his actions towards others, is that you can't make assumptions about people until you have walked a mile in their shoes. This theme is all throughout the book. As my students have been reading this novel, we have been talking a lot about how often we tend to think certain things about people without even knowing who they truly are.
Well, the Lord has been teaching me this lesson this week. For the past week, my husband and I have had a 19-year old staying at our house. He came to Clermont from Wisconsin because he wanted to help our church (we are a new church plant) out in different areas. Well, "John" is a free spirit. He's all about adventure and he's all about developing relationships with others. He's also a college age student. One who doesn't always clean up his room or his mess in the kitchen. If you know me, you know that I tend to be a clean freak! So, it has taken some adjusting on my part. At one point, I was allowing myself to really get mad about all of this. At one point, I was getting annoyed by the smallest things. Then it happened. The Lord really spoke to me. He reminded me of what I was just teaching my students this past week. He reminded me of who it is that we are called to love. He reminded me of those people that he reached out to. All I have to do is think of the 12 Disciples. Talk about a crazy group of men. I'm sure they were not always the easiest men to get along with. But you know what, the Lord loved them, believed in them, and helped them in any way possible. And guess what-The Lord has told me that this is what I need to do with "John"-love him, encourage him, and help him in any way possible even if I get "annoyed" at times.
So, who in your life is the Lord calling you to love, encourage, and help? Who are those people in your life that tend to annoy you?
When you start to get annoyed with someone, remember how patient the Lord is with us. His love for us never fails. He continues to believe in us, encourage us, and help us-if we will allow Him to.
