but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the advice of the wicked is treacherous.
The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush,
but the speech of the upright delivers them.”
Plotting revenge.
You know, when I’ve been hurt or maligned, it seems (and I know in my heart that is only seems) that it would be a good thing to get revenge. I want that other person to suffer like I’m suffering.
I’m not very gracious about others’ mistakes (or bad decisions). Particularly if they are “over” me in some way, when they have the ability or the right to make decisions about my life . . . and they make bad ones. To be honest, I like my comforts. I like life being the way I want it, regardless of what that means to others.
Not a very nice way to live.
But the fact is this: Along life’s path, there isn’t a set of circumstances that allows for everyone to have things the way they want it. If someone gets, someone else has to give. If someone is rewarded, often someone else is hurt. If someone has their way, someone else is inconvenienced.
It’s just how it is.
And I need to be honest enough with myself to realize that, in the long scheme of things, I’m rather selfish and self-centered . . . and I shouldn’t be. Why shouldn’t I be inconvenienced? Why shouldn’t I not have my way? It’s not about making things the way I think they ought to be, but rather me finding ways to minister to those around me, even when I’m put out.
It begins with my thoughts, with my own expectations about how life should be.
The thoughts of the righteous are just.
This is about what my “rights” are . . . and, as a Christian, my “rights” center on pleasing God. In other words, outside of His will, I have no rights. And inside His will, my rights are that He will make everything for my good, regardless of what circumstances I’m in. In other words, my “right” is that I get to trust Him and He gets to act. My “right” isn’t that I get to determine what happens; I get to trust.
That puts an entirely different spin on everything. And it means that what I say needs to change. “The speech of the upright delivers them.” Do my words reflect what I believe my rights to be? Absolutely! So, when I’m complaining, I’m saying that I think my rights have been violated, that I deserve something other than what I got. But as a Christian, I get what God wants me to have. Even in those difficult and dark circumstances, God is placing me there by His holy will for His purposes. Perhaps so that I will learn to trust. Perhaps so that I can minister to those around me.
We live in a sinful world. It’s impossible to get away from suffering simply because we are surrounded by it. Disease, decay, death . . . they surround us. And sometimes God leads us purposefully through times us suffering so that we can learn how to console others:
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer” (2 Co. 1:4-6 NLT).
Regardless whether we suffer because we live in a sinful world or we suffer to learn consolation for those around us, our expectations should be that we walk through the suffering trusting God, rather than expecting a life of no suffering and turning to sin (gossip, complaints, etc.) when we find that things aren’t going as we thought they should.
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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