Day 157 - Millstones
Scripture focus: Jesus continues - "But if you give them [he's referring to children] a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse - and it's doomsday to you if you do." Matthew 18:6-7 The Message
If faith means the ability to keep our eyes open, then its antithesis is denial - the strongly held compulsion to keep our eyes closed. Denial is the ability to ignore the truth in the face of all sorts of evidence that this approach is foolishness.
Yesterday's devotional touched on a young man who clearly saw the seriousness of his family situation. He totally got the point that his parents were distracted. He understood that he could get into all sorts of mischief and no one would notice. And if they did, they'd turn on each other like two rabid dogs - pointing the finger and blaming each other for all sorts of parental misconduct. They wouldn't notice that while they were shouting and accusing, this kid would slip out of the house unnoticed, and continue his bad behaving ways.
They missed the point - it wasn't about finding fault - it should be about finding solutions.
Unfortunately, denial blinds us to the Millstone Principle. It distracts us from noticing that we give our children (and others) a hard time; we don't pick up on our bullying tactics; we fail to see how we're taking advantage of the simple trust others place in us. Foolishly, we miss well-placed moments of regret.
Regret can become a powerful motivating tool for change. But when we are living in the land of denial - we miss cues that shout - "Stop. Pause to prepare. Something's not quite right here - and it's your deal!"
Jesus is putting us in time out with this passage. He's strongly suggesting that we inventory ourselves. In extremely strong, doomsday-esque language, Jesus is reminding us that denial is a deadly disease. It leads us toward doom.
When we are stuck in denial there are many people in our lives who would love for us to get unstuck. Our denial contributes to their unease. It's my prayer that we will ask God to show us the true nature of our relationships. Who are we giving a hard time? Who are we bullying? Did we take advantage of anyone today?
In tomorrow's devotional, we're going to begin a conversation about how toxic shame might contribute to denial and all sorts of dysfunctional coping mechanisms. The news is good - but to get to the good part, we've got to exercise faith - keep our eyes open - and tell the truth about today. That will help us decide what kinds of God conversations we need to initiate in the days ahead.
Recommended reading: 2 Samuel 23 in the morning; Acts 2 and Psalm 121 in the evening
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