“Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye”
Matthew 7:5
We all have been stomped by people when we were suffering, who called us conveniently ‘sinners’. But once your life improves and you flourish, they say, it’s because of their prayers. I do not intend to underestimate the power of prayer, especially praying for others. But prayer is an act of love. And let me explain what love is, according to the Bible.
Love began the moment God decided to send his only Son to be crucified for our sins. It was a trust he had in us that we would turn to become God’s children if God sacrified his own Son. It was the relationship he tried to mend when God called us forth to be his own children and it’s when Jesus called us his ‘friends’. It’s the concern when he cried at the death of lazarus and at the cross saying, ‘My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me’. Love was service and humility when he washed the feet of his disciples. God never judged us and he never let anyone who came to him, be judged. He is Love.
And now, back to our discussion of being called ‘Sinners’ when we suffer but glorified when we flourish, where is love?
In the book of Job, his friends came to console him after he lost everything he had and they told him that, its his sin that he was brought to ashes. Sometimes in life, these voices cloud our minds and make us hate ourselves. If Job wasn’t a man of God, he would have been easily swarmed into those suggestions that ‘he is being punished for his sins’.
Even when we judge ourselves, we tend to believe we are being rewarded or punished for who we are and what we do. I give donations, so I must be good or help the sick and so be favoured in God’s eyes. It’s a reward-punishment transaction to which we are conditioned. So, we perceive God as a transactional leader rather than as our friend and father. This is what happened to me, when I went on with evaluating good and bad in my own life. I thought, I was greater than everyone else because of what I did but no. Our God is not rewarding for who you are! He is rewarding you for who he is. He is the father who loves you unconditionally and chose you knowing you would do his will yet doesn’t get angered if you lack. He is accepting of you exactly the way you are. The only thing, you could do is to love him unconditionally and trusting your life in his hands.
If someone comes and brags about how God has favoured you because of what they did for you or blames you for your suffering. Remember God is Love. He would never stop loving you. For people who have never felt this, wait for your time. He would reveal his love for you at the right moment. It isn’t that he abandoned some and loved some. It’s just we have never been open to experiencing him or accept him. Wait for your time.
You are loved no matter what. Do not feel guilty or low when things are hard. God would never want to see you suffer but he gives you opportunities and strength to overcome those hurdles. You lean on and surrender completely. He would take care of you like a father would take care of his children.
Let me repeat, ‘It’s not because of who you are, but because of who he is’.
Praise God!