I often hear myself saying, "That's just not right!"
I want the situation to be fixed; I want justice for whomever and for whatever. Life offers an endless supply of things for me to be upset about.
Do you ever feel like this? The Lord offers me different ways to think about life, and I appreciate His help. I often get around to thinking His way, but wanting life to be right is where I usually begin.
Jesus said a lot about this subject in His teachings in Matthew 5–7. I came to understand one of the verses (5:41) from watching the series, The Chosen. Roman soldiers could require citizens to carry their loads of up to 100 pounds for a certain distance, usually a mile. In the storyline of The Chosen, soldiers required Jesus and His disciples to carry their heavy gear for a mile. The disciples carried their burdens on the hot dusty road towards the place the soldiers were heading.
At the end of the mile, the soldiers began taking their equipment back. Jesus offered to carry the load for the next mile. The once-arrogant soldiers took the offer with gratitude, and they all began to chat along the road. It looked more like a group of friends. God's love had touched many hearts. I had never seen that side of the story. God's light outshined the right.
The 1995 Morning Star Journal shared a story from Watchman Nee, a passionate Chinese Christian. Two brothers cultivated paddy fields halfway up a mountain. They watered their fields by day and slept at night.
During the night, the farmers below them took all the water. The brothers tried to do what they thought was right. They did not complain; they forgave; but they were very unhappy. (Of course they were unhappy! That wasn't right!). They went to a wise man for advice. He told them to go beyond doing right. They were to first water the fields below them and then water their own fields. As they did this, their happiness grew. After a few days, the farmers came to apologize and wanted to know more about the God the brothers served. God's light had come into the situation! Love outshined the darkness of selfishness and theft.
One of my favorite books is Every Good Gift by Linda Baker Kaahanui. Linda's grandparents were missionaries in China in the early 1900s, and they had witnessed amazing wonders of God. Papa Baker had taken in street children and you can read some stories about this in his book, Beyond the Veil. The children experienced incredible encounters with God in the Spirit.
Linda was curious as to how the Christians had survived the years of persecution so she traveled to China to collect stories. These are her words from the introduction:
I went to China armed with my list of questions: How does a Christian face tremendous sorrow and find joy? How does a Christian lose everything, yet keep a heart that is soft and filled with gratitude? How does a Christian stand all alone, with no one to encourage him, and remain true?
As I listened to tapes, read transcripts, and shared stories with others, I realized something. God was answering a different question. "What does it mean to love God?" These might seem like stories about enduring, about forgiving, about courage or about miracles. But at the heart, they are simply stories about loving God with no conditions: no minimum daily blessing required, no comfort-zone boundaries, no expectation of anything other than to suffer for the sake of the one loved. When God is loved just for himself, what does he give in return? Himself!
I think I need to settle in and reread some of these books! "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14–16).
Sue Carlisle grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. An enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, her passion is to encourage people to
look at creation and see our
awesome Creator. Sue is
author of Walking with the
Creator Along the Narrow Road (see https://intertriballife.org/store/). She and
her husband, Wes, now live
in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
