I don’t know how God knows and how He does it–all of us with idiosyncrasies going on and yet He speaks to them? In my Jesus Calling book today the devotional proclaimed that God knows us best and knows our thoughts, longings, and sees us through the eyes of grace. I knew this but the timing of being reminded was a huge hug.
In school, my professor and I had a discussion in which we professionally discussed the word judgment versus questioning. In that moment of our discussion I folded, but later I realized I was allowing his authority to influence what God was doing in my life and my journey. We were not talking about mechanical parts of the paper, grammar, or APA. Later that night I couldn’t rest because I realized that I had folded to authority and someone I admired. God has a work for us individually. I desire to not come out of my doctorate program being my professors, but who God is molding me to be. We can agree to disagree. God knows my heart–that’s the only validation I should long for. I did not want to sway my professor to my side, just listen and consider my point of view, not to discount it as wrong.
Today in church, my eyes literally saw the wrong verse on the paper of sermon notes. I went there and all heaven opened in my soul. Romans 14: 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.
No way! I smiled. Thank you God. That was no accident! This was validation of the points I was trying to convey to my professor. I returned to the sermon and was blessed. Perhaps this seems so insignificant, but not for someone who struggles with taking a stand when the stakes are high.
God has a plan for each of us individually. He knows us. When he speaks to your soul, perhaps important people wont understand or think differently, but you only need validation from the one who knows you best–Jesus.
ARRESTED BY GRACE 
Hi Anna – in our sermon yesterday, our pastor encouraged us to pray and meditate on what our stumbling blocks are to becoming who Jesus is molding us to be. I found myself thinking about why some people are harder to love than others – people I don’t even know…I think about how I was raised and the beliefs that were impressed upon me then and carry through to my life even now – very subtle but still there. The tragedy with Master Trooper Walker is a good example – I have a hard time with forgiving or finding love in my heart for the man who shot him. I heard on the news that it is possible he will plead insanity. To me, the justice system is insane – that shouldn’t even be allowed – in my opinion. I know it is not for me to judge Mr. Brown or his family, and Jesus will be the one he has to answer to in the end, but for now, he has taken a life and changed the lives of the Walker family and his own family forever.
The book the Crossroads was excellent! One famous quote he used was from Robert Kennedy “TRAGEDY IS A TOOL FOR THE LIVING TO GAIN WISDOM, NOT A GUIDE BY WHICH TO LIVE” . So true!
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Char,
I feel like I can speak for many of us who struggle with similar stumbling blocks. Our pastor is doing a sermon series on Honor, which I hope to blog about. It goes along with judging and stumbling blocks to better relationships on earth and with Jesus. He called it the Honor principal. At one point he shared that we should take off our Judicial Robes and honor the person or relationship as a person –created in the image of God, with their own scars. His comment deeply moved me–it’s just so challenging to remove the stumbling block and look through the eyes of Jesus when blatant injustice or wrong is staring you down. Your quote from Robert Kennedy was very timely–I shared it with someone. It was perfect timing. Thank you Char–we are so spiritually connected.
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