Have you ever been told something that you didn’t want to hear? Have you ever been told something that just irritated the “life” out of you? Maybe you have even been told something that just plain made you mad! It doesn’t matter if it is true or not, it makes you mad! It doesn’t matter if you need to hear it or not, it still has got you upset! It doesn’t even make a difference if it is going to improve your life, you just don’t want to hear it. Have you ever been there? I have! I’ve been there, done that and bought the tee-shirt.
I was called into my supervisors office, several months back, and handed a handful of papers. They were the paper work for a Department of Transportation physical examination that was being required of all of the drivers where I work. So, with a heart full of dread, I went to see the company’s doctor for the physical examination.
I have to be really honest, I don’t like doctors and make it a practice to stay as far away from them as I possibly can. I have only seen a doctor on two different occasions in my life because I was sick and those two occasions were 39 years apart. The only other times has been work related or because of an injury. I have been very blessed to have never spent the night in a hospital as a patient. I was not taking any medication and only took some allergy medicine when I absolutely had to. So even though I hadn’t been feeling really good, for a while, I did not want to see the doctor.
They poked me, then they prodded me and all of the other things that make you feel uncomfortable. After doing all of that the nurse left me sitting in a room for the longest time, all by myself! Finally the door opens and into the room walks a person, whom I assumed was the doctor, with a frown on her face. My first thought was, “Oh no! I am really about to hear it!”
For the next five minutes or more this doctors proceeded to tell me, in no uncertain terms, how bad my health was. She wasn’t nice! She wasn’t gentle! She didn’t seem to care if I liked what she had to say or not! She didn’t even seem to care if I liked her, she just laid it out for me to hear. She then sent me on my way with a warning I had better take care of some things if I wanted to live a while longer and to be honest I was wondering if I would live long enough to get to the car.
Now I don’t know if this has ever happened to you or not, but it did happen to me. My reaction to what she said and how she said it was simple, I got mad! I looked at the paper work I had been given to take back to my supervisor and she wasn’t nice in what she had written. Didn’t she know someone might read this? I did not like what she said about me at all. I became even more angry! My feelings were hurt! I was embarrassed! Actually I even felt humiliated! How dare she talk to me like that and to write those awful things about me?!
After a while I began to think of what she said and all of the things that she had warned me about. Realizing I hadn’t felt good for a while it started to sink in that she was right and I should pay attention. I brushed my feelings off my sleeve and pumped up my resolve! I went to work as instructed and three months later walked into her office for a second examination. This time when I walked to the door she put her hand on my shoulder and said I had done a good job getting everything in line and headed in the right direction. A funny thing is, when I walked out I was thinking to myself what a nice doctor she was. I appreciated the fact that she had gotten my attention a few weeks earlier.
The difference between the first time and the second time was simply, I was doing right. Many times I have felt the same way spiritually. I have heard the preacher preach a message and felt anger, resentment, embarrassment and humiliation over what has been said. I have thought they could have been a little nicer. They could have used a bit more tact! I am sure you get the picture.
Israel was in a serious situation. They had turned away from God and began to worship idol gods. Because of their sin God, allowed the Midianites to overwhelm them. They would come from the desert in swarms and take all of Israel’s crops, herds and animals and leave them with nothing. This had gone on for seven years. It was so bad for Israel the Bible tells us they were living in caves and hidden places to hide from their oppressors! Finally in desperation they began to cry out to God for deliverance. They needed a miracle in their lives.
God didn’t send them a miracle. God didn’t send them deliverance. God sent them a prophet with a word from God telling them what they needed to change in their lives. He wasn’t nice! He wasn’t politically correct! He didn’t worry about their hurt feelings or insecurities! He just told them the truth, what they needed to hear! In our time of oppression and desperation God doesn’t always send a miracle or deliverance. Sometimes God sends us a “Word” to tell us what we need to change in our lives.
We have become a generation that lives on the defensive. If I want to do it, what does it matter to you? Be careful how you speak to me about my wrongs, failures, weaknesses or sins because I might get hurt. Don’t judge me! Don’t be critical of what I am doing or my lifestyle. Please don’t make a suggestion that I need to change! The cry of this generation is tolerance! That is as long as it is applied to me and what I chose to do. However, don’t expect me to be tolerant of you or what you have chosen that is different from me.
This is a generation that needs a “Prophet Nathaniel” who will stand in the face of the “status quo” in your life and say, “You are the one who has sin in your life and need to repent!” This is a generation that needs a “Prophet Elijah” who will stand up to the “powers that be” in your life and declare, “Your sin is the reason for your problem!” We each need a “John the Baptist” who will declare “repentance” is our only hope for a relationship with God!
Instead of reacting in anger and offence, what would happen if we reacted with the “spirit of David?” Maybe there is something to what, is being said and God is trying to get my attention? Maybe God has tried other avenues of approach and they have failed to awaken me so now He is being more abrupt? What if I stepped back and said, “Ow, that hurt! But I need to think about what was said and pray about it. I need to allow God to have some time to speak to my spirit.”
Many years ago I prayed a prayer that I have repeated several times. I told God I wanted to go to heaven, and I wanted to be saved, no matter what the cost. I asked God to help me to accomplish this. Now, how can I be offended when He is doing His best to answer my prayer?
No, I don’t always like what I hear and sometimes have a hard time dealing with it Yes I do wish others were as tactful and kind as I am, and I say that laughingly. However, I do believe with Paul that God’s grace is sufficient for me and that Grace will help me to overcome those discomforts and apply to my life those things that will help my relationship with God. I do believe that all things work together for my good if I am loving God and allowing God to fulfill His purpose in my life. So I guess I need to once again ask Him to help me see what it is that I am needing in my life . . . even when I don’t like what I hear.
It’s just a thought!
