Intentions?

Have you ever overreacted to a situation, especially one involving your spouse? Ok good me neither, but for those of us who are not perfect (definitely me), we should try to identify why we respond negatively to our spouse. Most of the time these responses happen when we aren’t able to talk with our spouse. We assume that if he left in a hurry, or had to end the call soon, he must be angry about something. But what would happen if we looked at the situation differently? What if we looked at the situation as if he was in a hurry, not angry, and we can talk about things later when he has more time? Don’t beat yourself up too much, I’m sure your spouse has overreacted to some way you treated him too. But why do we do this? Because we are sinful people with a heart that has self-serving as priority number one. This behavior was even seen when Jesus was here on planet Earth. Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?” But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” Matthew 12:22-24. Jesus was perfect, performing miracles, and healing people, and still, people assumed the worst in him. Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” John 10:20-21.

Now that we know the problem, we have sinful hearts, overactive imaginations, and are prone to be self-serving, how do we remedy the situation? First, we don’t rely on our flawed human strength, we rely on Jesus and his perfection. Second, we pray without ceasing. In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story about a woman who is persistent in her pursuit of justice. The ungodly judge decides to give her what she wants due to her persistence. So if a worldly and ungodly judge would do that, how much better will our Father in heaven treat us? Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Luke 18: 7-8. I know some of you hear “just pray” as an answer to your problems and you think, that’s it? There’s nothing more I can do, but have you considered just how powerful your prayers are? After all, that is why Jesus came to earth so that he could bridge that gap between us and God. Now we have immediate access to our heavenly father and we don’t have to see anyone special, or go through ceremonial washings. “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13. So please don’t consider prayer as insignificant. God listens to us and cares for us more than we will ever know.