Day-In And Day-Out

"But it is a mature person who chooses peace over self-defense."

A STUDENT goes into school minus the knowledge he will learn there. He goes in not knowing how to read and write, how to add numbers, and he leaves with greater knowledge of both. Speaking of college learning, a student enters with interest in a particular degree and graduates with all the school requires to have that degree. He can now get a job in that career.

We go to church to learn what we do not know. We should leave having acquired knowledge and been given, through the Spirit of God who teaches there, greater understanding. The same is said of time in study at home. We read the Word to learn more about God. Who He is, how He works among men, what is His nature and personality. We read to become familiar with the Spirit’s Voice. We talk to Jesus, and He speaks back. We learn surrender, humbleness, and the qualities that are heaven’s, grow in us.

Time spent in worship shows us God’s Presence, and in that time, unbeknownst to us, God heals what is broken. We look for a banner: SUZANNE IS NOW FREE OF HATRED! But God lets us simply be loving. We may not ever have an eye-opening, Spirit-clanging moment of realization. We may simply love others for the rest of our lives.

“I can’t forget what they did.”
“I will never get over it.”

These are words we speak which should cause us to lean on God. Not only for support to walk past them, but for Him to heal all the memories, all the sour thoughts, all our bad reactions. The Holy Spirit is the Healer of our mind. We cling to our hurts, detail them, rather than let go. Where God bids us to rest, to be peaceful, we allow our feelings all the time they need. Worse, if we try to rest and it is uncomfortable, we return to reacting. Thinking of Joe Blow and not being angry at him seems like a betrayal of us, somehow.

God understands how we feel, and He never turns away from us. We can come to Him just like we are and know He will comfort us. But it is a mature person who chooses peace over self-defense. That we can think of what happened and remain joyful is healing. And God will take us there, to that moment. We must accept the steps He chooses.

There is no specific guide. Human nature wants one. Step 1, get on your knees. Step 2, sing a hymn. Step 3, make this declaration. All of those are great things, but for you, it may involve doing nothing. Maybe you’ve spent your time making lists of names, of attending self-help classes, even Christian ones. Maybe what God is asking, instead, is your patience which He gave you. Is self-control. Not enough is said in the pulpit about not saying things in the pulpit, about exercising self-control. There is no room there for sexual advice, for name-calling, for what-ifs of what might, maybe, in some cases, go wrong. The Spirit will never tell you to do these. They are fear and lust and anger based. He is love.

He is love. We are now love. And with love comes joy and all the fruit of God’s Spirit in us. Galatians 5:22-23. Church people do not hurt church people. Or anyone else. We exercise gentle behavior, a gracious attitude (Philippians 4:5, BBE, ISV). We look and sound and act like Jesus who obeyed the Father, spoke the Father’s words, did the Father’s work, all the way to the cross. He loved SO MUCH that He died to rescue those who hated Him, not speaking one wrong word (1 Peter 2:22).

“Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22)

“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.” (1 Peter 3:10)

This is what we should learn of Him, not staying infants who don’t know their name, but because we take the time to hear, because we actively, deliberately walk in the Spirit, led of the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), our behavior changes and we grow up. And the peace of God is ours. Day-in and day-out.

“Let us not be full of self-glory, making one another angry, having envy of one another.” (Galatians 5:26, BBE)

“We must not want people to think that we are better than anyone else. We must not make each other angry. We must not want each other’s things so that, as a result, we hate each other.” (Galatians 5:26, EasyEnglish)

"The Lord Is near; have no anxiety." (Philippians 4:6, New English Bible)


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com