In my last
post I wrote about watching too much television with my mom and having a
struggle with that. Of course, God came through and helped me. As I said, Mom
told me she would like to play some computer games. Well, that is what she
wants to do every night instead of watching TV. I’m so thankful to God. Now I
have more time to listen to Christian podcasts, read books about God and to
pray.
In one
podcast, a man said something like, “If you were raised in a legalistic,
fundamentalist religion and are now free of it, be grateful for your
upbringing. You grew up knowing the Lord’s name.” I agree with him and have
thought about that a lot.
My sisters
and I used to be upset at our religious upbringing, but now I am grateful. Because
of my parents and my church, I have always believed there is a God; I’ve always
known he hears and sees me; I’ve always known there is eternal life for those
who follow him. I may have been terrified of God and when I sinned I thought he
would kill me with a bolt of lightening, but hey, it was a start! I’ve
certainly never been tempted to be an atheist.
Something
happened this week that showed me how good Joyce Meyer’s advice is on not
telling people when you are hurt by someone. I thought about telling only my
husband but I realized there would be no point in that. He couldn’t change
anything and would also feel sad that I was sad.
I don’t want
to say what this person did. It was someone in my family. When it happened, I
felt like a knife went through my heart. So, I spent time talking with God
about the situation. I thought about what Jesus would do. I think he would have
felt hurt, but he would have just accepted what happened. That night I prayed God
would take away the pain in my heart and when I woke in the morning the pain
was totally gone.
That day,
another family member came over and talked with me about what happened. I didn’t
bring it up, but she knew about it. What she said made me feel so much better.
The situation was clarified and I could see there was no malice at all involved
in it. That night we all went out to dinner and had a perfectly wonderful time
together.
I love God’s
way of dealing with our hurts. I love this way of not telling people I am sad
etc. I know there are times we must confront people. Jesus said to go to those
who hurt you and talk with them. I have done that before; sometimes it works
out great, other times not so much. What I especially love is how God tells us
not to spread these stories all over the place. We shouldn’t call our friends
and tell them how horribly someone has treated us. We should go to God alone
and he will help us.
