Boy what a morning to get wrecked by the Holy Spirit. These past few weeks have been a roller coaster of situations that have pushed and pulled on me more than I have been in for a while. I am talking some serious stRRRRRRRRRETching as my pastor would call it. The only thing I have truly known to do is get back to my devotion/prayer time and cry out to God.
This morning I was doing my devotional and I could barely make it through without tears. As a matter of fact, the tears came and are still coming as I type this article to share with you my precious friends. I still cannot wrap around my mind why God uses me to write things like this as I am just a simple girl from the sweet hills of Tennessee. I am no bible scholar, I did not graduate from college, my grammar is not always the best, and I have quiet the southern accent when you really get me going. I in no way feel qualified for some of the things He gives me. Maybe that is the key, He gives me what He wants written. This morning’s devotional was on “He Speaks to Me”. It was talking about the times in life that things have occurred where you missed the opportunities to hear and see God. It referenced Luke 7:44. This scripture talks where a certain woman, who was not invited, entered the Pharisees Simon’s house to meet with God. She did not come to join the party; she came looking for something special. Scripture points out that because of whom this woman was in the town, Simon and the crowd at the party did not see a reason she was there. They thought that she was coming to disturb and cause a scene I am sure. Why? because they were looking at her through physical eyes. They failed to see her with compassion and humility. They failed to see her brokenness, her pain, her need for God. They were haughty and hypocritical. They failed to see that she came looking for something special in that moment. She came looking for forgiveness from her Savior. She wanted to pour the oil from her alabaster box onto the savior’s feet. If you don’t know much about the alabaster box back in those days, the alabaster box was carved, expensive, and very beautiful. When this woman washed Jesus feet, this was a full demonstration of her true faith in Him to forgive her. How many times do we fail to see humanity and look at them as distractions/interruptions because we look at them through our broken lens of compassion and humility? Recognizing that if God had not intervened in our life we could be in a similar situation as those around us. Broken, Addicted, tied up in adulterous affairs, lost without hope. Maybe not having compassion and humility based upon their sins, but how about judging them based on their race, their social identity, their lifestyles.. I am not saying to accept the sin. I am saying that we have to love the sinner, hate the sin and believe for the power of God to change them. In Priscilla Shirer's words, “How different would our relationships and encounters be with others, if by God’s spirit, could heighten our looking and seeing others? How much more fruitful could our personal impacts become on an everyday basis if we elevated our hearing into listening? We would become a choice instrument in the hand of God, prepared for His purposes, propelled by His passion, moved to displays of grace and mercy toward the hurting victims of a lost and dying world.” This hit home so hard for me and was the basis for this today. The pain and ache I felt in my gut immediately was as gut wrenching as when you stump your little toe on the wall in the middle of the night kind of pain. I am admitting firsthand with a huge heart of repentance toward my heavenly father that I am guilty of misjudging people due to the oil in their alabaster box. Guilty of allowing gossip to come into and out of my spirit and affecting me and the person God has called me to be. Something I am so not proud of. Moving forward my ears will not be an trash can for others to dump their toxic mess. God showed me vivid illustrations when he has placed new people in my life that I have rejected all because of listening to others judge them based on their past. This hurt my heart to the point of tears because I can recall on several occasions over the years where this same thing happened to me. I so craved the love/acceptance/and friendships of those around me and because of hypocritical folks I was rejected, talked about, and heartbroken. So badly to the point that I wanted to go into a hole and hide because the rejection hurt that bad. Who was I to act as if God could not change them, forgive them, restore them to His perfected work? He changed me, He changed my husband. In closing, If you are someone reading this that is guilty of this behavior, I ask today that you truly repent and ask the Lord to give you eyes of discernment to detect layers below the surface. To look beyond the oil in someone’s box and respond to folks in a way that will honor Him and bless others. If you are reading this and you are someone who has been affected by my misjudgment, my hypocritical demeanor, I ask for your forgiveness. I ask that you see me as someone who is a human work in progress. I am daily on the Potter’s wheel. To be honest, the oil in my alabaster box is not pretty but God still loved me enough to save me. You truly do not know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box. That is the same grace I plan on extended to others from today forward. Have a beautiful day friends.
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AuthorMy Name is Laura Perdue. I am 44 years old and married to my best friend, Brian Perdue and mommy to Carston Perdue. Brian and I reside in Woodstock Ga and serve on the action team of Fivestones Church in Holly Springs. Archives
July 2022
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