Influencers Weekly Devotional
Growing Through Waiting?
by
Rocky Fleming
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” Psalms 37:3 (KJV) “Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.” Psalms 37:37(KJV) You will not escape this world without being misunderstood, incorrectly judged, hurt in some deep way, or lied to or about. It is bound to happen. It comes with the territory. We live in a fallen world and with fallen people. Even the best people, even your best friends, are fallen people. You and I are one of those fallen people. Remember this truth, for it becomes a powerful reminder to you when you are tempted to judge someone else. If things like I described haven’t happened to you, they eventually will. It is likely that all of us have brought this kind of pain to someone else in our lifetime. I know I have. So don’t feel smug. And it could even happen again that we hurt someone with our tongue or accusations before we take our last breath, because we have the capacity to fall into slander of another person as easily as taking a breath. So, when you become the target, before you go on a pity party of being wronged and judged, consider that the evil power that influences this world uses people like a pawn and they don’t even know it. It helps a little to remember the power of the Deceiver and the Accuser to deceive and accuse and that he is the real culprit behind the words and actions of someone who has hurt you unfairly and deceitfully. But it still hurts. So, where can you find comfort when things are wrongly stacked against you, and even your friends and allies question your integrity and honor? What do you do when you have done no wrong, but still you are treated as if you have done so? Psalms 37 is my comfort. I have gone to Psalms 37 time and time again to be assured in those times of being wrongly judged and hurt by people, that God knows my heart, my life, my actions and my integrity in those things I’m being accused of. He knows the truth. The whole chapter of Psalms 37 tells me to trust the Lord, and He will reveal the truth. It is a comfort to me. But His promises of doing this are also true. I have seen the Lord eventually reveal the truth of my innocence when wrongly judged so many times, and it has caused me to rely on His promises. After all, if the Lord God Almighty says that He will fight for you and reveal the truth of your innocence, what better promise and power could you have on your side? But, it requires me to wait on Him when I want to strike out in self-defense, and waiting on God to act on my behalf is where the spiritual battle is waged. The question is, “Will I wait on God to reveal the truth, or do I take matters into my own hands?” This is where Psalms 37:37 speaks to me. It tells me that if I am blameless, my future is peace. So, I know the future, and how things will turn out for me if I am innocent. Does this assurance comfort any of you who are being wrongly accused and condemned right now? I hope it does for these promises are written just for you. On the other hand, if my heart condemns me that I have been wrong, I know that I had better humble myself quickly, and take my whipping for things to get right again. The fact is, most of our accusers will hopefully remember their own faults and will not pick up a stone to throw at us if they see us own up to our mistake. But, there are some exceptions to that rule and have their own issues to deal with before the Lord, and they don’t forgive you. If that is the case, just leave them alone and allow them to fall under the guidance of the Lord. Don’t make their burden your burden by being angry or unforgiving yourself, for you have done enough before the Lord, and their unforgiveness will be between Him and them. But most folks are generally gracious to the humble man who admits he has made a mistake. Listen, whether we are innocent and being judged wrongly, or just flat wrong with what we’ve done, God always calls His family members to have humility and a Kingdom view. Humility is always good and is always a Kingdom view. Therefore, even when we have done no wrong, we may be asked to serve someone who has wronged us by being “Jesus” to the man or woman or people. We may be asked to humbly take the bullets for this person or others, when we are as guiltless as can be. Why would Jesus ask us to do such a thing? It is because He did it for you and me, and this is an example of what it means to share in His suffering, as mentioned in Romans 8:17. The Kingdom view is to be a reconciler, a restorer, and an example of Christ. We need to make that our mission. Jesus took our guilt on Himself. He was guiltless, but He took on our guilt just as if it was His own. Remember what he said when He was asked if He had done the things He was accused of? He didn’t answer them. He did not defend Himself because He was innocent, but He pleaded “Guilty” on the cross for His family and He took our guilt as if it was His own. Because He took our guilt on Himself, He might ask you and me to take the guilt of someone else on our self so that unity and restoration can be won for that person. How does that challenge you? Are you ready to step up to that kind of expression of Christ in you? Like Christ, are you willing to apologize for something that you are innocent of to bring peace and reconciliation to someone who has wronged you? Are you willing to look your accusers in the face and still love them with the love of Christ that forgives them, when in fact they need to ask your forgiveness? That is a big, big test if you are willing to live it out and act and think like Jesus. But I will tell you this, if you are innocent, God knows it and what you have done in offering yourself up as living sacrifice to be a reconciler and healer has brought the applause of Heaven on your actions, as they have watched you run your race. “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” Psalms 37:23-24 (ESV) Now I would like to pass on a little more information about dealing with things in a high minded, Christ-like manner when wronged. It is a simple rule of assurance. It is found in the passage above. Here it is. If God delights in you, He upholds you with His hand. In other words, He is on your side. He is with you. He will walk you through your trial, and coupled with the other assurances in Psalms 37, He assures you it will all work for your good. Therefore, when tested, I need to remember a very important thing in the heat of being wronged with accusations and being discouraged by the words and actions coming at me. I try to remember to handle things in a way that delights the Lord. If I can do this, then he has assured me that He will walk me through the trial. It has worked every time for me, and I pass it along to you with the full assurance it will work for you as well. Now, have I responded in a high-minded, Christ–like way every time? Honestly I have not. But I am trying to. I want to. I ask the Lord to help me see things through His eyes, and to trust Him. Like I said, it is a battle to do this. But it is a fight well worth the effort, and the major recipient of the blessing that comes from waiting on the Lord, trusting Him, and watching Him keep His promises in Psalms 37 is me. I am the one who gets the greatest blessing from being wronged and handling it the way Jesus would direct me. He walks me through it, and it always leads to good. “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)