Put it Away!

How quickly we as humans can rise up to battle, how quickly we can jump up in defense of wrong doing, how quickly we can speak...how quickly we can get so caught up in our own pursuits that we forget what it is all about. It was Christ in the garden who said, if I wanted a battle I could call my servants to battle, but that is not what God wanted it to be about. It was Christ in the garden who told Peter to put away his sword because the Son of man needed no defense with weapons fashioned by man. It was James, the half brother of Jesus who said that we of all people should be the quickest to HEAR and the slowest to SPEAK. If we truly hear the voice of God sounding in our lives that voice says when it comes to injustices: "Put it away" don't draw your sword of bitterness, don't rage on in vengeance for vengeance is to be left to God. I know that I cannot handle that responsibility, I know that I of all people need to be less worried about vindication and be completely consumed with my redemption. It was Jesus who they spoke about who being reviled did not revile in return, who being mocked did not mock in return, who being beaten did not beat back, who being killed offered life.

I heard the voice of God last night, the voice of God coming through a most godly of people, coming from a source I sometimes choose to disregard rather than really pay attention to. Where I heard it is not as important as the fact that I heard it, where we all heard the voice of God is not as important as the fact that we are opening ourselves up to hearing it. I heard the voice of God tell me last night "Put it away!" Put away the bitterness, the frustrations, the disappointments in people, put away the growing desire to see justice brought to those who would accuse you or make your life miserable for their own gain; just put it away and turn it all over to God.

I think about David, the man after God's own heart, the man who was so accustomed to mistakes, the man who knew first hand what it was like to be talked about, to be bad mouthed; I think about where he focused all his attention and it was not all toward vengeance; oh yea he cried out to God about it, but for David it was more about writing about the goodness and faithfulness NOT of mankind but of our God who is bigger than all our personal problems and external adversaries.

I heard the voice of God last night and in my heart I am listening, and for my bitterness I repent and for my harboring of negativity I repent and for my willingness to hold on to things that God has been calling for me to let go of, I let go. I heard the voice of God last night and as is sometimes the case when wee hear it it smacks us in the face so hard it hurts, but I heard Him last night tell me that if I want to experience all the goodness and blessing He has in store for me I have to get out of my own way and let HIM be the one to take care of everything in life.

Thank you God for speaking to me and thank you for putting people in my life who are willing to allow you to use them to remind me of what your all about when my vision becomes clouded.