Is that You, God?

Have you ever had those moments...or maybe I should say series of moments, that make you say, "Whoa! I think God is trying to get hold of my attention!"? Well, today has been that way for me.

I just started a small group study on Jonah by Dr. David Jeremiah. Today I went through the second chapter entitled "No Man is an Island". It was over Jonah 1:4-16, which is the part where the storm comes up on the ship and Jonah confesses that he is the cause of the storm to the mariners. Wow! Do we consider who our sin hurts when we choose to sin? I know I don't. There is only ONE person on my mind when I choose to sin...ME! Our sin does not affect us alone. Jonah's sin affected these mariners to the point that they threw cargo overboard and were afraid for their lives. Can you imagine having to pick and choose what to throw out of your house just to TRY to survive? And all for what? The sin of a MAN OF GOD! Lest I be too harsh on Jonah, let me remind you that MY sin, the sin of a WOMAN OF GOD hurts more than just myself. It hurts my family and even more importantly, it hurts my testimony to GOD! Who knows who else it may be hurting!

Another issue Dr. Jeremiah touches on is the importance and power of confession. Is it important for me to admit when I'm wrong? What are you telling people when you refuse to admit that you are wrong? Are you perfect? Why would a non-believer want to come to Christ if all you are going to do is lord it over them that you don't sin? That's not what MY Bible says! My Bible says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That means, it's going to happen and, yes, you need to fess up and deal with the consequences.

What deep stuff! Ok, God, I'm learning and growing. Oh, but, wait! Then I visit Deanna's blog and see a post about Ted Haggard. I decide that the kids are down for nap, I've got 40 minutes of time to listen to this interview and...by golly, I run into EVERYTHING I just ran into with Jonah this morning. I admit, I am guilty of being one of the Christians that said, "Great! Now we get to hear about how awful Christians are all over again." But, you know? Ted is a human being too, and he and his wife let God work a good work in their lives through their disaster. Why was I so quick to heap condemnation on him? Do I have a right? Am I standing front and center in the spot light that Satan wants to knock me down as far as he can? No, Ted was doing that! And are my sins so much worse then his? Well, not at all...from a human perspective, but God's Word says differently. God's Word says that God sees sin as sin...period!

I know that I haven't had a rough life in the slightest. God has blessed me over and over again! But I'm telling you, there have been a few things that I have had to work through and learn to forgive for. I have forgiven some people over and over again...for the same incident. Today, I had to forgive them AGAIN! I think forgiveness is a process and I may have to forgive these people for the rest of my life, but you know? That's ok because it feels good every time!