Verse To Live By

Make it your ambition
to lead a quiet life
to mind your own business
and to work with your hands...

So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders

And so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

I Thessalonians 4:11-12

Friday, August 21, 2015

Finishing Well Can Be Confrontive...

I sat at a campfire and initiated a conversation about houses for sale on the campgrounds (since I have one), and who was selling and buying.  A camp board member was there, and I was basically asking him about activity in the real estate realm.  I did not sense there was anything wrong with our conversation, but all of a sudden I was pounced upon and told how inappropriate the conversation was.  I immediately shut up...had nothing more to say.

I felt like I had been slapped, and everything within me wanted to get up and leave, and never go back to the campfire again.  But I tried to regain my composure and just listen to conversation for a while.  About 20 minutes later I did excuse myself and continued on with my evening walk.  By the time I got home, I was ready to unload to someone, so I wrote an email to my husband (who was out of town at the time), and then I went to bed.


I couldn't sleep, so a couple of hours later I got up and found an email response from my husband.  He didn't feel I had said anything inappropriate, and that I should just trust God to see my way through this hurt.  I then decided to read my devotions for the next day.  How appropriate that my reading was focused on Matthew 5:23-24:


So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.


Well...what could I say.  It was one of those times that Jesus knew exactly what was bothering me, and what it would take to cure the hurt.  I went back to bed and fell asleep.


The next morning I headed over to this neighbor's home and asked to speak to both the husband and the wife.  Both had been present at the campfire.  God had given me the words to say, and so I had confidence in having this conversation that morning.  I thanked the person who had brought it to my attention that I was speaking out of turn at the campfire.  I said even though I didn't see anything wrong with it, if that person did, then it was wrong for me to speak on that topic.  Since it is my desire to "Finish Well", I wanted to keep everything above board with everyone, and not have any unfinished business.  I did not want to hurt anyone.


I shared the verses God had given me, made my apology, very sincerely, and then asked if there was anything else I needed to correct.  I was assured there was nothing else.  My whole goal is to finish well, so I told them if in the future they heard me speaking out of turn, or saying or doing something inappropriate, would they please bring it to my attention so I could halt it right then and there.  They asked me to do the same for them.  We parted in Christian love.  


Mission accomplished.  I felt I had honored God by being reconciled to that couple instead of holding bitterness and hurt inside and letting it fester.  I was pleased with the outcome.  I do believe that it only happened because of my desire to "Finish Well" by living a life pleasing to God in my words, my actions, and my attitudes.  That is His desire for me as well, so He is faithful to give me His Holy Spirit to guide me.  Thank you, Father!


Do you, my friend, have someone you need to be reconciled to?  There is peace in doing so.  And we definitely don't want to get to the Great Judgement and realize something so minor stood in the way of our peace and our destination!  Go take care of it...NOW!!  God will help you!

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