Luke 17: 15-18
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”
When someone does something nice for me, I am grateful. When I receive a gift, I treat it as a bonus. If a life grows up well, I'm blessed, but I take no credit for it. Over the years, I've hardened myself to recognise that there will never be nine others who will return out of the ten helped. Honestly, people don't owe me an iota of thanks because lives rarely turn out exactly the way I've dreamt it to be. Moreover, all that transpires is by the very grace and blessings of God.
I've been brokenhearted too much to expect much and therefore, I do not bother to cling onto beautiful dreams. I've witnessed enough people who are disillusioned/bitter with God or their life and decide to give up on doing what was right because what they hoped and assumed never came to pass. When what doesn’t appear, disappointment sets in. frustrations and anger emerges. Then, it is often left in a feeling of bitterness and offense. God and anything Godly is discarded because it serves no purpose. With lesser expectations, I've learnt self-preservation, even though it inevitably makes me colder and distanced.
I've been brokenhearted too much to expect much and therefore, I do not bother to cling onto beautiful dreams. I've witnessed enough people who are disillusioned/bitter with God or their life and decide to give up on doing what was right because what they hoped and assumed never came to pass. When what doesn’t appear, disappointment sets in. frustrations and anger emerges. Then, it is often left in a feeling of bitterness and offense. God and anything Godly is discarded because it serves no purpose. With lesser expectations, I've learnt self-preservation, even though it inevitably makes me colder and distanced.
However, as I stand by in the sidelines more often than not broken and spent, I encourage myself to cling to hope, a hope in how God's grace will always be more than I ever imagine. I trust in God not just because I have to, but because I need to. Faith is more than what I feel and know. Therefore, I commit myself, like a blind man with nothing to rely on but his stick, I trust in an unseen God that I've professed to trust and will follow.
Life has often taken its toll on me, but I continue to do what I must do to handle those in my charge. I know that, even though people will eventually stumble, drop out and break the exposed parts of my heart, they possess some good inside of them that must be nurtured and influenced. Even if none return, I must continue to do what my God will expect of me till the day I see Him and be accountable for the breathe that I was given.I pray you will do likewise too.
M.
M.
