Leviticus 7:28-9:6 / Mark 3:31-4:25 / Psalm 37:12-29 / Proverbs 10:5
Okay, all my quick-tempered girls, raise your hand. Don’t worry, my hand is also up! My temper comes from my dad, who got it from his mom, who got it from… I’m not sure who because I didn’t meet the previous generation. You’re probably wondering why I called you out like that. I just wanted to see who was with me… let’s continue.
How many of you get quickly irritated when someone “does you wrong”? In a general sense, I’m looking at two categories of people – those who notice the irritating things people do toward them and those who don’t. I wish I were more like the second category. But there’s a third option. What if those irritating things are pointed toward you at all? What if said person is simply self-focused and not aware of her bad behavior?
While I can’t tell you the statistics on how often it’s one or the other, I can tell you that we are too quickly bothered by a “something” that is more likely a “nothing”. Not many people are the type who intentionally go after another person to make them angry. Most are totally unaware.
Psalm 37:12, however, is speaking of the one who is intentionally evil. The wicked plot against the godly; they snarl at them in defiance. If you know that someone is intentionally going after you, how do you respond to that? That’s a loaded question, and I’m not saying I have a blanket answer, but I can tell you how God feels about it!
Verse 13 says “But the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming.” God looks into the eternal future, seeing past the present evil that is intended. And this can apply both personally and on a larger and more general scale.
How many of you have been angry because it seems that people who are evil get away with everything? I know I have! It seems I try to live my life to please God and be kind to people while “she” is being completely selfish and mean and nothing bad ever happens to her!
I have two thoughts here. One is that we don’t see the totality of her life. She likely has some terrible things happening or she wouldn’t be so mean. The second is, we ALL reap what we’re sowing – meaning, you get what you give. That is a law of nature. If you’re being mean, you’ll get mean back. If you’re being kind, you’ll get kind back. That said, we all have tough times.
The Lord laughing makes me think of a lady in scripture who also laughed. Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
The Hebrew word is the same in both passages and it means to laugh in contempt or derision, to mock. Interesting, but how can one laugh during difficult times? It’s only possible if you know the One who hold that future in His hands. I’ve said this before – the circumstances may not change. You may continue to experience difficulty but God is always good, even in the hard seasons.
Keep your eyes fixed on God and laugh at your enemies. Another way to “laugh” at your enemies is to pray and worship. I dare you to try it!
