What do you see?

Have you ever been in a horrible situation? What went through your mind? Perhaps it was a bad situation at school... or a at a job. Can you remember what your thoughts were at that time? I know for me, when I go through troubling situations, my mind is on the problem. I tend to focus on who or what the problem is and then I go into "fix-it" mode. I think of all the variables that are in play and I try to create a 1-2-3 fix-it plan. I had the pleasure of speaking with one of my past mentors this week. I shared some of the issues that were troubling my heart. He replied with an interesting statement. He said, "Matt... you may know what the problem is... don't focus on that... instead... try to focus on what the solution is..." Those words rang in my ear... I can spend so much time looking at the problem... that I become blind to the solution. I was reminded of Moses in Exodus 14. The Israelites had left Egypt and were now looking upon he Red Sea. The Egyptians were closing in and the Israelites were scared. They cried out to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" Now let's be honest... We have all been led to a Red Sea at some point in our life. When we are faced with "problems"... what do we see? Do we focus on the waves crashing on the rocks? Do we focus on the Egyptians closing in on us? Let's look at how Moses answered them... Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Ah ha!... the answer becomes clear... I know for me, when I get into "fix-it" mode... I want to fix the entire problem and then move on... But sometimes God wants me to just "be still"... That can be hard. Imagine had the Israelites ignored Moses... Where would we be today? When your brought before the Red Sea of your life, what do you see? Do you see the waves and the rocks? Or do you see Gods hand at work? What do you see?

His Pain, Our Forgiveness

Let's be honest... we've all been offended by someone at some point in our life.  Whether it's a friend, family member or a complete stranger, the inward pain of failed expectations can eat away at us like cancer.  Too often than not we put our faith in people that have a 100% percent chance of failing us.  If we're still being honest, the hardest part of people failing us is the part where we have to forgive them.  In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks Jesus how often one should forgive someone... Peter says, 7 times?  I have to give Peter credit for not only doubling the Jewish average but adding one on top of that to make it seven.  Jesus quickly answers Peter by saying, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." In other words, Jesus was saying to Peter, forgive multiplied by infinity.  There is no set limit to the amount of times we should forgive...  To put this more into perspective, count the number of times you have failed the Lord... I would bet that it would add up more than 539 times. (ie. 77x7)  I know for a fact that my sins would equal higher than that number.  We have to realize that people will fail us... that being said, we serve a God who will never fail us.  There is not a time in history that God fell off the throne... He is the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords...  When He stretched out His arms on the Cross, He took upon Himself the past, present and future sins (ie. failures) of the world.  He has forgiven us for eternity... There is nothing that we can do to add up to the grace our Lord and Savior has given us.  His Pain, Our Forgiveness.