Paint Party Friday: Not Your Sword or Your Bow

"Should you not have mercy on your fellow servant, as I have mercy on you?" Matthew 18:33

Why is it so hard to forgive? Perhaps because our arch enemy, the devil, knows that not forgiving will keep us from God's blessings. The devil likes to use our mind as a garbage dump, a trash can, and tries to put resentment, envy, self-righteousness, anger, bitterness, etc. there, and the thing is, we listen. We keep it there. We don't realize that keeping unforgiveness in our heart is like drinking poison slowly, bit by bit.

Perhaps we feel justified in our anger. The person really did something wrong and should actually be made to pay. To suffer. But God promises to be our vindicator (Psalm 4:2). If we are able to let go of the poison, and let God deal with the person who hurt or wronged us, we can be free to fellowship with God who wants only the best for us. Unforgiveness puts up a wall between us and God. Proverbs 4:23 advises us to above all else, guard our hearts for "out of it flows the issues of life." What is in our hearts determine the course of our life.

 I'm thinking of someone right now. She was such a nice person and I thought she was beautiful. She was renting one of our spaces and even though she was not able to pay on time month after month, we were very patient with her. She fixed up the place very nicely and in the contract, it states clearly that the lessee will leave the improvements. However, when they left, they gutted the place, even removing faucets, toilet bowls, electric switches, wires, etc. It was very disappointing and disheartening. I have not even gone back to see what they had done.But I believe that God will be the one to deal with her. I do not want what she did to affect me or my peace of mind!

 "It was not your sword or your bow that brought you victory." Joshua 24:12

In the 23rd and 24th chapter of Joshua, Joshua is now very old and like a lot of senior citizens, he likes to reminisce. Here he called together all the elders, the leaders, the judges of Israel and talks to them about the great and mighty deeds God has done for them. He reminds them that God has driven out powerful nations and that no one has been able to defeat them as they laid claim to the Promised Land. He also reminds them to keep following God's laws, to never even mention the names of other gods. He warns them that if they disobey God, He will allow disaster to fall on them. In Joshua 24:15, Joshua utters the famous line, "But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." It is apparent here that Joshua believes and wants the leaders to be aware that they were blessed because of God choosing to bless them. It was not that they were a mighty people who knew how to fight with their swords or their bow and arrow. It was not that they had superior military intelligence or strategies.

This reminds me of our business. My mom prayed for a business and she started our business from her hobby of sewing. She would sew stuffed toys from scrap cloth. She would always tell me that she thought our business was a miracle. Although my father worked in a good company, we just had enough for our needs. My mom didn’t have a grand ambition, she didn’t have a brilliant marketing strategy, she didn’t have a business degree, and she was shy and timid. What she did have was faith in God. I know without a shadow of a doubt that our business is successful because of God and his favor. Indeed when I look back at the almost 50 years we have been in business, I can see how absurd and puny our efforts have been. Prayer has always been the solution to our challenges, and God has always been our working partner, our CEO, our miracle worker!

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