Monday, September 24, 2012

Job 21: ICU - I See You

Job reminds his friends that a lot of wicked people flourish.  He reminds us that you cannot judge whether one is good or evil by the circumstances that they live in.  It is not what one has or does that determines whether God loves us or not.  Seeing the true character of man is not dependent upon what our physical eyes see.  The heart of man is not worn on the outside, but within. 

One of the modern miracles of technology is the cell phone.  I know a lot of people think that they're over used and misused, including myself.  However, it is an invaluable tool for me to be able to keep track of my granddaughter who spends a lot of time with me.  It has a GPS tracking device on it so when she goes to a friends, her dad and I could actually check to make sure she is where she says.   When we're out shopping together, when it's time to leave, all I have to do is text her the register number and she's there in a moment - no running around looking for her.  And, when we go to football games and she thinks I can't see her I can remind her, without embarrassing her in front of her friends, that she needs to take some corrective actions.  (My eyes aren't so bad that I can't see across the football field.)  If her behavior is starting to escalate, I text something like:  "Come here now" and if I see an attitude beginning to build within her, I text "ICU."  I see you - I know her well enough to see right through to her next move and the next move better not happen!  Texting ICU is way worse than texting, come here now, because it uncovers what one would like to keep covered.  It's like opening the closet and the skeletons falling out.  My sons use to say this was assuming on my part, since they hadn't actually done anything, and they weren't thrilled with it.  Funny how now her father sees her, too, just like I use to see him.  When we know and love someone, we are connected to them in a very strange way and we can, in a sense, see the stirrings in their hearts and minds.     

Just because someone looks good on the outside, it doesn't necessarily mean they are good on the inside and just because someone looks bad on the outside, it doesn't necessarily mean they are pure evil on the inside.  Good and bad survive in this world together.  It would behoove us to learn to connect to the real person within, to the spiritual person, so that we're not busy condemning people because of the not so good circumstances that might surround them.

Oh, maybe you think that I am judging my granddaughter.  I am not.  I am trying to train her up in the way that she should go, because I love her and that love is unconditional.  It may not always be comfortable for her, but I'm pretty sure she "sees me" enough to know how much I do love her. I want her to learn how to see people and not just what she see's with her eyes, but the whole person.  And.. yes, I want to protect her and teach her to protect herself by being able to observe the world around her.  There is good and there is evil in this world.  And... not everything is as it appears on the surface.  Sometimes evil looks, on the surface, very good (like the freinds) and what looks bad (Job) is actually very good.

Well, sorry I rambled a bit this morning - hope it makes sense.  Have a blessed day and may the peace of the LORD be with you always.  Pr. J.

 

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