All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful,
but not all things edify. 1 Corinthians 10:23 NASB
God shut a door in my life.
I was misjudged.
God knows.
I wanted to defend myself.
I heard the Lord say, ‘Let it go.’
I pleaded with Him.
I want to defend myself.
He then said, ‘All things are lawful, not all things are profitable.’
In other words, to me, God was saying, it’s not going to do any good.
That’s a hard thing.
It’s hard when your reputation is at stake and you have been misunderstood.
The enemy is always at work.
Some people fall for his devices, his schemes.
God lets it happen.
Fighting for our rights, feeling the need to vindicate ourselves,
letting others know who we really are, our motives, our intentions.
God knows them.
This life, our life is all about God.
This world, our time on earth, where we walk, how we spend our days,
is about how we serve Jesus and to look for opportunities to serve Him.
It is not about justifying ourselves.
Though, there are no rules. Each instance is different.
That is not to say we should never defend ourselves or the gospel.
Sometimes we should.
The important thing is to seek the Lord on how we spend our time,
on what we know is most important, on what we do for Him.
We never want to waste time. It’s not about us. It’s all about Jesus.
Being poorly treated in the world is bound to happen.
Satan roars about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Those who allow Satan to use them are doing just that,
allowing Satan to use them.
It’s ugly.
It hurts.
It hurts our pride.
God can preserve our reputation if He so chooses.
He can lift us above the circumstances.
He can and does reward those who diligently seek Him.
I have seen many times that the Lord has executed vengeance
on those who have treated me wrongly.
Sometimes I never see it.
I don’t worry about that anymore.
I know He does what He sees as best.
Nothing gets past God. Nothing.
If someone treats another poorly, they will be repaid.
I did something wrong, just yesterday.
I offended the Lord when I knew better.
I’m no better than anyone else. Who am I to demand God repay them?
Time to lower my ego.
Time to stop being the one who points out the sins of others.
Jesus is perfectly capable of doing that. He already knows.
I just need to keep my focus on Him
and stop stewing about their meanness
and incompetence in seeing things clearly.
Oops. another dart. I’m not there yet.
Getting over offenses can be a process.
God’s best is that we not let that process be longer than it needs to be.
Maybe someday, we can all be like we’re supposed to be,
not getting offended, letting God’s love run through our veins,
even to our enemies and those who do us wrong.
A wonderful thought,
but we live in reality
and we just have to keep trying to be who Jesus wants us to be.
Being confident of this very thing,
that He which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:16