Others

I think that God is making a point about prejudices today. While at work, a few of my teammates allowed some misgivings they had between each other to bear fruit of a less than healthy nature in front of our customers. The customer told me about this display and wanted to know what was so terrible that a question, which many of us could've answered in two minutes, had to erupt into a runaround of emails sending our customer to and fro throughout the members of our team. My first thought was to inform our manager that we have a problem within our team and that it has to do, mostly, with our obsession regarding what other team members are/are not doing. While speaking with other teammates about what I had determined to be a very drastic situation that needed to be addressed quickly...I realised just how much I was included in the problem. I was so pre-occupied with the actions of others, that I spent almost forty-five minutes talking about it, instead of doing my job.

While on the drive home, I started listening to the radio and heard some rowdy banter between a sports talk-show host and a local caller. After that conversation, I could only think about how much I disfavored the caller's attitude and what kind of stern lectures I could give him were I given the opportunity and were he silent enough to listen to it. Of course that would never happen and it all really didn't matter in any schemes of any significance. Once again, I was very much occupied with the actions, opinions, and prejudices of others. I was so pre-occupied I forgot a couple of the errands I needed to run while away from the house. Once again, my pre-occupation with the less attractive aspects of other people were given more priority than things that actually mattered!

When I arrived home, I realized how much I missed being with Jesus and how much I needed to hear his voice. The cares and concerns of so many insignificant matters occupied my mind from every front and I could not concentrate on things that were holy, pure, and good. I needed to see the Lord. While thinking about Jesus, it seemed obvious to note that he never seemed frantic about the actions of others. He knew they couldn't do anything without God's authority. He only did what He observed the Father doing. So the question could be asked,"What is God doing when He allows people to behave in ways that frustrate us?" Is God allowing those things so that we can become pre-occupied to the point of forgetting our responsibilities? Would God allow these circumstances to occur so as to misdirect me from things that I know He expects me to do? It is pretty clear that these distractions are not being allowed to occur so that I can dwell on what I feel is wrong with other people. To the contrary, it appears as though He's allowing these things to happen so that He can destroy my prejudices. I read Utmost today and the author states that obsession with the prejudices of others is a part of our old life. That is, our life prior to trusting Jesus and being born again. The new life should never be consumed with the prejudices of others and our energy should not be devoted to the being another's conscience, parent or boss. When we become focused on the prejudices of others, we develop prejudices of our own and Chambers stresses that God doesn't want the old life to remain in any of us. He's working to remove all fragments of the old man from all of us.

When we look at the things God has given us to do for the day, we can't spend that day wondering what He is going to do to correct the actions of other people or daydreaming about how we would correct them ourselves. Jesus told Peter, "What is to you? You follow me." As John Piper expresses, this is a blunt and liberating statement. Piper calls this obsession with others a depressing slavery that is ultimately fatal. Lord, I repent of my obsession with the actions and behaviors of others. I see that you are using those things to break me of this obsession and I'm asking for you to help me see when I'm slipping again into a mind trying to thrive off the cirumstances around me. I surrender. Thanks for being unchanging and so quick to bring Your word into my life. I love Your faithfulness and I trust You.

Joshua