He made the world to be lived in, not to be an empty chaos.
Isaiah 45: 19 (LB)
Scripture: Ephesians 4: 14-32
Have you ever wondered what gave God the idea to create the world? We question why God has engineered situations to turn out the way they do. We begin to wonder why we have to come into contact with other people. This devotion will look at how we should interact with others.
Have you ever wondered what gave God the idea to create the world? Was He sitting around one day and had the idea hit him from out of the blue? Where did He get the plan to put all of this together?
He created the earth and all there is in it. And if that wasn’t enough, He created man. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1: 26 NAS). He made man differently than He did the other things. He made man in His image, to be ruler over the earth.
Sometimes, though, we don’t think this is such a wonderful world in which to live. We question why God has engineered situations to turn out the way they do. We begin to wonder why we have to come into contact with other people.
But then we read, “He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited” (Is. 45: 18 KJV). God didn’t put us down here to crawl into our shells like a turtle. No, He wants us to interact with others.
God wanted the world to be orderly. He actually wanted it to be a paradise. However, man messed up and let in sin, poverty, disease, death – all of the bad stuff.
God also knows that we get hot headed sometimes. He knows conflicts arise, and feelings get hurt. So, He had Paul write about unity and living as His children. “Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Eph. 4: 2 LB).
None of us are saints. Conflicts arise, and we have to make compromises to resolve the situations. We have to remain open-minded. We also have to stop lying to ourselves. Are things really happening the way we think they are, or have we twisted things around to show the situation isn’t our fault?
First thing we have to be is honest with ourselves. How can we take the true situation to God if we are refusing to face facts?
“If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry – get over it quickly” (Eph. 4: 26 LB). Work through your problems, get them all settled, and then leave them alone. Don’t keep looking back; look forward. Look up to God. Remember His love and give love instead of grudge.
Jesus knows how hard life is. He lived it, also. He knows what the word “grudge” meant, but He looked forward and up when He was here.
While we go through our conflicts, Jesus is standing by our sides urging us to look forward and up.
Gracious Heavenly Father, Creator of the universe. You created this universe according to Your plan. You sent Your Son to be our Redeemer, according to Your plan. You have made situations arise in our lives according to Your plan. Father, we look to You for help to deal with these situations. Give us an open mind and a forgiving heart as we interact with other people. We pray that we are as forgiving to them as You are with us. May they see Your Hand guiding our lives. Amen.
What do you think? What triggers most of our conflicts with others? What can we do to change our responses to more godly responses? Leave me a comment below or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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