There's always one bird looking for a target like you!

There's a Chinese proverb that says 'You cannot prevent the birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.' Seems to the Chinese never found a solution to a more imminant issue with birds. I'd say: 'The sun may be shining, the sky may be blue, but there's always one bird looking for a target like you!'

Now i don't know if you have fallen victim to this type of aerial assault, but it is far from pleasent. Sometimes the things we encounter in everyday life can feel quite similar. Today has not been a good day for me, as i feel like i've been bombarded by crap since i woke up this morning (figuratively speaking of course). Totally unexpected and out of the blue.

This all reminds me of the fact we do have an enemy who is constantly bombing us, trying to throw crap into our thoughts and minds. So how do we protect ourselves from getting hit by crap, and how do we deal with it when we get hit? How do we respond after being bombarded?

We can seldom control what or who is attacking us, but we can control how we respond. Although attacks can be painful and embarrasing, it does not change who we are. What we believe about ourselves is our freewill decision. Do we believe what others say, do we accept the demoralising words or actions of the one who attacks us, or do we remember the fact each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator(Psalm 139).

Looking beyond what we can see

Most of us have been created with at least 5 senses: sight, smell, touch, hear, and taste. We tend to draw conclusions about situations, people and things using these senses. How often are these adequate conclusions, epsecially when judging others? How often do we look beyond what we can see, hear or feel?

It seems we live in a world of visually impaired christians. We share a message of grace, yet view and judge others by our impaired view of what we see. We so often fail to look beyond our prejudices, stereotypes and our rubber stamp blueprint of how others should behave.

My no means should we condone certain behavior, but we should be looking deep beyond the actions and behaviour to see the person inside. We all respond to injustices of life in different ways. Pain and rejection can sometimes take us down paths we never intended or imagined. Do we live in a community of acceptance and grace or in society of judges who are quick to condemn. We don't know what events in one woman's life led her down a road of adultery.

We see that the action is sin, but do we look beyond what we see. Do we even notice the bruised and broken heart? Do we understand the abuse and the hurt that may have preceded this sin? Unlike the crowd who wanted to stone her, Jesus never condemned the adulterous woman. He addressed the accusers 'he without sin cast the first stone', then gave grace, forgiveness and only after any threat of accusation or condemnation was removed HE instructed her to sin no more.

Our vision is so impaired by what we see. Our hearing is impaired because by what we hear. Our feeling is impaired because what we feel is anger and hurt. Our senses are impaired because we don't sense the heart of God, when we draw our conclusions in judging others. And our grace seems to be so conditional...

May our eyes be open, may our ears truly hear, may our hearts feel the unconditional love and compassion our Lord want's to give...