Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday we drove to my brother’s home in Indiana and when we arrived no one was home. We knocked and noticed there were no signs of life so we went to get gas, before coming back. Now we could have thought they were not very eager to see us, or so busy they didn’t have time for us, but that would have been the wrong conclusion. When we drove from Kentucky in the morning to Indiana we crossed a time zone which made it now an hour earlier. So it was we who arrived too early and they were not too busy but rather showed us wonderful warm hospitality when they got home!  Isn’t it easy to jump to the wrong conclusions with the limited info we may have?   So many times in the Body of Christ there are misunderstandings and they can cause disruption in the peace and unity. No matter what someone does to us though, forgiveness is a choice and an action of our wills.  Shana Schutte writes how important it is to let the person off the hook who wrongs us. It is not worth hanging on to.  “There is a God who is greater than the wrong that has been done to me and in this, I recognize that no one can do anything that will ultimately destroy me or God’s plan for my life…Someone may stop loving me, insult me, steal from me or abuse me, but they will never be able to destroy the love that God has for me or His sovereign rule over all that concerns me.”  God is so much bigger and can work even the hurtful things for the good in our lives ( Rom. 8:28) and bring us peace and growth.