The woman left my office red-faced and out of breath after accusing me of dishonesty, lying, and theft. I may have also sullied the name of her firstborn but I can’t remember for sure. I had made a mistake on an ad for her business (this was in my weekly newspaper days) and she had exploded with messy words everywhere. I was furious. Contained, but furious.
God then told me to pray for her. It took hours for me to spit out a weak mushball of a prayer and it tasted like sawdust. The next day, he told me to pray for her again. Another sawdust prayer finally came out. But by day three, the anger melted and I prayed with God’s sweetness, seeing suddenly how miserable it would be to live in her skin, with her ugly accusations and assumptions.
This turning-the-cheek stuff challenges me. I may not strike back, but I want to intercept that striking hand.
I am fairly good at defending my boundaries. However, Oswald Chambers stepped on them this morning: To the saint, personal insult becomes the occasion of revealing the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
That rocks me in my steps. I want to swing a sword in the face of unfairness. I want to stop the attack in its tracks. I’m not a trading-insults sort of person, but I can often stop assaults with stern limits.
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matt 5:39
I can take the first strike but turn the cheek for the second? Why would I do that? Because that reveals the incredible sweetness of Jesus. I have a responsibility to testify to God’s character. I can do that with words but my responses are richer testimony. I reveal Jesus’ nature if I respond as he did.
My task here is not to defend my boundaries or protect my honor. I am not to draw a sword in the name of personal justice or private ambition. My task is to give testimony to God’s character.
I can relish that second strike as a way to reveal the personality of the King of kings. Responding with grace reveals the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus. Hard to beat that.
Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.
2 Cor 1:12
2 Cor 1:12
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7 comments:
We recently had someone interact in our lives in a bizarre way. Stuart was kind to her and at first I was angry at him for being "gullible" and at her for taking advantage. Then God said, "Did you ever stop and think that this happened so that someone would remember to pray for this girl. The circumstances here show that she needs prayer." And he was right. The anger is gone and instead when I think of the incident I remember to pray.
This is a hard lesson to learn and I'm glad you wrote about it.
Kate
Praying for your enemies totally frees us up, from all the negative that comes along with them..just takes the power out of it, and empowers us to move on, and I think it speaks volumes to the person in question. I have not done this every time I should have, but I do know of a few times when it just amazed me how fast Jesus worked in the situation to fix it.
princess to princess..
This IS a hard lesson to learn but you're right, such a freeing one. Thanks for sharing such rich insights!
What a wonderful way to look at the second wallop when we do turn the other cheek. An opportunity to show the sweetness of our Savior. Thanks Kathy. Have a blessed day. Meg
Humility will help us learn this lesson. We're here to serve and honor Another,not ourselves, aren't we? This was one of the lessons that stuck with me from the life of Amy Carmichael. She didn't defend herself--God would take care of the vindicating.
Hope all is well with you. I just stopped by to check a few blogs before going to bed.
Have a nice Lord's Day.
(Your picture here drew my attention; I'm a bird lover, you know.)
I'm readig this on Monday after spending time with some of my husbands family. I've watched him turn the other cheek for years and been furious with him for "taking" the words they speak. God's shown me over the last few months that he isn't taking it, he's turning the other cheek and showing them grace. Doesn't make what they say right or true, but does show them Christlike actions. My heart is convicted, I don't always show the same restraint.
Thanks for this post, it was posted for me today.
This has been and is a tough lesson for me. I tend to believe in my "right" to defend myself. I see Jesus stand up for principles, but not really for himself. He defended the temple from merchandisers but he didn't defend himself from the Roman soldiers. Thanks for all your insightful comments!
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