MAKING SENSE OF THINGS THAT DON’T MAKE SENSE

“…you won’t go wrong in following their teachings…But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.” ref. Matthew 23:1-3, The Message
Have you ever wrestled with making sense of things that don’t make sense?
Have you ever been given really good advice from someone living a not so “good” life? Have you ever received discipline,that was well deserved, from an authority figure you do not respect or trust? Have you ever been helped by someone who has hurt others? Have you ever learned sound Biblical truth from someone who walked a wayward secret path? Have you ever been loved and listened too by someone who turned around and betrayed another?

The truth in Matthew 23 tells us that regardless of the messenger, truth is truth and the teaching is sound! Never question the goodness of the “good moments”, in light of negative revelation about the messenger! We are all made in God’s image, so we all have glimpses of God in us! Take the good advice, be humble and learn from the discipline, appreciate the help, apply the Biblical Truths, receive the love and remember the sweet spot of being heard! Those things are REAL AND THEY ARE FROM GOD!

Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ! HE alone is the author and perfecter of our faith! Anytime we put our hope in another human, we have set ourselves up for disappointment! Trusting Jesus is where our peace and joy come from; therefore they can not be taken away by anyone else! These are foundational truths, that we need to constantly remind ourselves of!

“For I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do and what I hate, I do.” (Romans 7:15)

Have you ever felt like this? I have, and my prayer has always been for the Spirit to convict me sooner than later, so that I get back on track, repenting, confessing, making amends when possible and moving forward in grace and truth! There are different, worldly consequences for different sins but sin is all equal in God’s eyes! The first step is always humbling ourselves and admitting we have messed up and that we can not fix it on our own! We tell God we are sorry and do whatever we can to make it right with those we have hurt, and then we let the grace of God wash over us and restore us! We must pray for those who have hurt us! We must pray for their hearts to embrace truth and “we must not regard them as enemies but admonish them as brothers.” (2 Thess 3:15)

As I have been wrestling with making sense out of things that don’t make sense, I have had a revelation. Maybe my objective is wrong. Maybe making sense of things is not my job. Maybe the distraction of trying to make sense of things is a ploy of the enemy to keep me from embracing the present and loving in the hard places and on the hard people. I look at seasons in my own life, where I must have been hard to love, and I am so thankful that people didn’t try and “make sense of me” in my messy state. They just loved me, prayed for me, walked beside me, listened to me, never condoned my messiness but consoled and comforted me, even when my messes were self-induced (and most of them were:)

3 places in Scripture have resonated recently, while in this wrestling match. The accounts of The adulterous woman (John 8), Zacchaeus (Luke 19) and Zophar (Job 11) each helped me “make sense of NOT STRIVING to make sense”!

When the religious leaders publicly dropped the adulterous woman at the feet of Jesus, I pictured Jesus stooping down, putting his hand gently under her chin, looking her in the eyes and gently saying, “I don’t condemn you sweet daughter”, then wiping tears from her eyes with HIS fingers and taking her by the hand, like a gentleman would, to help her get up, continued, “Go and sin no more.” I believe they were both smiling, as she turned to walk away. With each step, I bet she turned around thinking, “Is this really real? This is really real!” A grace-induce giggle rising up in her soul, a twinkle in her eye and a skip in her step are the evidence of the miraculous!
Lesson learned: GRACE DOES NOT IGNORE SIN. GRACE TOUCHES SIN. GRACE DOES NOT CONDONE SIN AND GRACE USHERS IN THE NEW!

Zacchaeus was a short, dishonest tax collector (thief). Jesus saw him in a tree and invited HIMSELF to dinner! As the crowd gossiped and muttered saying what was true(which by the way is not a license to be cruel), that “HE had gone to be the guest of a sinner”, they failed to miss the fact that Jesus WAS NOT at their dinner table! They were so busy trying to make sense of what didn’t make sense, that they missed an opportunity to climb their own tree to see Jesus! When Jesus entered Zaccaeus’s house, Zaccaeus responded by speaking to Jesus, giving to the poor and making it right with those he had cheated.
Lesson learned: JESUS CAME FOR THE SINNER (THAT IS ALL OF US). FOCUSING ON THE SINFULNESS OF ANOTHER MAKES US MISS JESUS ENCOUNTERS RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. ASKING JESUS “IN” CHANGES EVERYTHING THAT COMES “OUT” (WE SPEAK TRUTH. WE SEE OPPRESSION AND GIVE GENEROUSLY. WE SEE OUR SIN, REPENT AND MAKE AMENDS)

Zophar was suppose to be Job’s friend. Zophar saw his friend suffering, listened to his complaining and felt it was his responsibility to put Job in his place. Zophar asked, “Should I remain silent while you babble on? When you mock God, shouldn’t someone make you ashamed?” The answer to these arrogant, rhetorical questions is “YES-REMAIN SILENT PLEASE!” AND “NO-IT IS NEVER OUR JOB TO MAKE SOMEONE ASHAMED!” In an effort to make sense of something that didn’t make sense, Zophar became arrogant and decided to play GOD!
Lesson Learned: WHEN WE ARE WORN OUT BY THE BABBLE OF ANOTHER, WE SHOULD NOT ADD TO THE BABBLE! STAY QUIET! AND WHEN WE THINK IT IS OUR JOB TO MAKE SOMEONE ASHAMED, SHAME ON US! JESUS NEVER USED HUMILIATION TO DRAW HEARTS TO HIMSELF. HIS KINDNESS LEADS TO REPENTANCE AND THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE LORD ARE NEVER COVERED IN SHAME!

I think I am finished wrestling for now. It is very therapeutic to wrestle in writing. It sends me constantly to the Word and it often it sends me to the lyrics of a song! This would be one of those times:) As I write, I am processing and an “unfolding” takes place! So of course, that word sends me to Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, “The Glorious Unfolding”(I live a life that reads like “If you give a mouse a cookie”:)

“The Glorious Unfolding”

“Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don’t try to figure it out
Just listen to what I am whispering to your heart…”

So there…

GoGod