Do You Need a Talking To?

Don't you just love it when God give you a spiritual "talking to"? It's kind of like when a teacher would call you out in front of the class and point out something you were doing that you weren't supposed to? Or is it?

My God is so tender and loving. When He admonishes me, it is so direct (cause He knows that is the kind of girl I am), yet so loving and kind! This morning as I was praying about my day and some areas where I have really been struggling to accept the actions of other people, He once again, gently spoke to remap my thinking.

"Do you know the plans I have for ___________? Could it be that you are secretly wanting them to fail?"

"OH NO GOD! That isn't what I meant at all. It's just that why do things work out for those that seem to constantly be doing wrong or messing up? It just doesn't seem fair!" (Do you detect my little bit of whining there? I didn't until I just typed it!)

"My baby girl! Was it fair that I let you come back to me after the things YOU did? Is it fair that I am making a ministry out of YOUR failed life? You do not know the scheme of my plans. You do not know how I am going to gain glory. You don't know that I have planted you here for a VERY SPECIFIC purpose. Sometimes the gain of those who don't deserve it can be the gain of those who do."

Ouch!!!

BIG OUCH!!

Sometimes God has us planted in places we don't understand. I think of a plant I have sitting in my kitchen window. You know I haven't even really planted it yet. It is sitting in a mason jar of water. I can't tell you HOW long it has been there. But I have left it in that jar, partly because I am ADD. But the other reason is that I am looking for JUST THE RIGHT pot to put it in. I want to keep it in the window. I want to see it every day as I wake up. But, I want to find just the right pot that is made especially for THAT plant.

The roots on that plant have grown, just as my roots have been growing...but... it isn't root bound yet. There is still room to grow.

Are you looking at other people and thinking it isn't fair that they seem to keep screwing up and STILL reaping rewards? Is there someone you know who is really making some BAD spiritual choices, and deep down, it "gets your goat" to see those choices seem to somehow pay off for them? Or maybe you feel like you are ready for your pot?

Remember, Isaiah 58:8 says, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways my ways,' declares the Lord." He has a bigger plan. We have no idea the scheme of things in His plan.