Hope with Grace – Part Sixteen
Do you ever judge situations wrongly? Sometimes my perceptions of situations can be entirely wrong.
I had a spare Sunday afternoon in Sydney so I strolled around Darling Harbour and had lunch outside in the beautiful sunshine. It was a good risotto and I decided to have an after-lunch coffee. Life seemed very good. I sipped the coffee and leaned back feeling very relaxed and promptly spilt the whole cup all over myself! I was wearing light coloured clothing so the resultant “wetness” and staining was very obvious. I was very embarrassed. Firstly, that people may have witnessed my “accident” but more how people would judge my appearance.
I thought it best to head back to where I was staying to quickly change my clothes. As I shuffled from Darling Harbour I was very aware of the disapproving stares of all the people who passed me by; they presumed that I had been drinking and was in a poor state. I wanted to explain to everyone that things were not the way they appeared! I resolved to try not to make uninformed presumptions about the way things “looked”.
The second “event” took place on a flight from Sydney to Auckland. Our flight’s departure was delayed and the pilot promised to make up some time on the journey. We had the usual airplane meal and a little later the cabin staff came around to hand out ice-creams. They were handing them out very rapidly. I asked the stewardess, “Why are you in such a hurry?”
Her reply was a little disconcerting: “We’ll be going down in a few minutes!”
Thankfully I knew what she meant rather than simply judging the one statement at face value!
I resolved to always try to understand the context of what people say; I also resolved to try to be clearer in how I express things.
At one of the churches I visited, the pastor mentioned how he’d seen a young man wearing a T-shirt that said “Not a fan of Jesus” on the front of it. This shirt really troubled the pastor and it made the impression that the wearer was openly denouncing Jesus Christ. Then he saw the back of the shirt. On the back it said “Sold out follower.” Suddenly the pastor realised that the young man wasn’t telling the world that he was against Jesus. Instead, he was telling everyone that he was not MERELY a fan, but that his whole life belonged to Jesus. I resolved to try to make an effort to understand the fullness of what people are trying to say before coming to any conclusions.
We need eyes and ears to hear and view things through “hope with grace”. That’s the way God relates to me.
Two suggestions:
- Take time to actually look some young people in the eyes this week. Stop to notice them; to look at them and smile, and then let the Spirit lead you to engage in some conversation. Determine that you will pray for them during the coming week.
- Read one of the Gospels, observing how Jesus treated the people He encountered; how He listened; how He spoke; the conclusions that He came to.
Let’s be careful about how we “judge” one another and in particular, our young people.
Seeking to listen carefully; view accurately; to speak clearly and to hope in the Christ of grace eternally.
Blessings,
Brian