THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

August 10, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

A few weeks ago, I stayed with my nephew's four kids while he and his wife went out of town for a few days vacation. One day I was trying to open a bottle of water and their 10-year old son, Owen, was watching. I couldn't get the cap to twist off -- it was screwed on very tight and I couldn't get the bottom plastic part to break off of it. Owen said, "Loretta, you are so weak and can't even get a bottle cap off! Here, let me do it!" He tried to twist the cap off and looked surprised when he couldn't do it. He said, "Oh! It really is on there tight!" He handed the water bottle back to me and I used a dry dishcloth to be able to get a better grip on the cap and got it to twist off and open.

There are times when people may be struggling with something and it's easy for us to stand back and think (or say), "They are so weak! They should be able to handle that situation better. If it were me, I'd......." We perhaps have gone through something similar, so believe that they should be able to deal with it the same way that we had.

See, Owen had also got a bottle of that same kind of water and had been able to open his without any difficulties. He hadn't struggled, so thought that I was just weak since I was having problems to get the cap off of mine. It wasn't until he tried to do it himself that he saw that there was a reason why I was having a hard time. After he realized that the cap really was on tight and that plastic perforated line that sealed the bottle wasn't breaking, then he had more sympathy towards me and better understood my situation.

Sometimes we may think that we know what someone is going through, so criticize when they don't handle it as well as we think they should. But the truth is, we don't truly know their past or what led up to what happened or what they may be feeling at that time. There may be details that we are unaware of, yet we "think" we understand and are qualified to judge their reaction to their situation. And really, even when we may have gone through something similar, there are lots of details that can be very different.

Other times, we really have no idea why people are reacting as they are, because we've not ever dealt with anything even resembling their circumstances. We guess at how we'd handle ourselves in that same type of situation, but we really don't know. And vise-versa; people may think that they would handle something that we are dealing with very differently and make very different decisions than we are, but they don't truly know because they're not us.

There are so many examples in the Bible where people were misunderstood, judged wrongly, falsely accused, had people turn their backs on them when they most needed godly friends, didn't have the support of family and those who should have known them best, etc. This isn't a new problem, but something that has been happening ever since God created mankind.

In Genesis, Joseph was falsely accused by his bosses wife, because he refused her and ran away when she tried to come onto him. He ended up losing his job and being imprisoned because of his godly behavior and actions. That wasn't fair! Up until that point, his employer had trusted him greatly. I'm sure after he was put into prison, there were others who had worked with him that started rumors of what they think happened or what they think he may have done. That tends to be human nature. "Well, I saw him...." "He was always looking at the women....." "You can't trust an Israelite!" "Yeah, those Israelites are supposed to be godly and look what happened to him. You know it's true. How else would she have gotten his coat!?" None of those things were true, yet, people tend to look at what they think they know or what they think they saw and not really know the truth of what really happened.

In 1 Samuel chapter 1, we read the story of Hannah. She longed for a son, yet was barren. Her husband had two wives and the other wife would taunt her year after year when they went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices, because she had children and Hannah didn't. Her husband didn't even truly understand her reaction and why she was so distressed. He'd asked her, "Why are you crying, Hannah? Why aren't you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me -- isn't that better than having ten sons?"

Hannah really had no one who understood her grief of not being a mother. The other wife would make fun of her because she was unable to get pregnant. Elkanah thought her having him as a husband (even though she had to share him with another wife!) should be better than having ten sons. He was like, "Come on, woman! Stop crying and eat something! Not being a mother should cause you to be so down hearted. After all, you have me!"

After this had gone on for several years, there was one particular year when Hannah went to the tabernacle to pray while they were in Shiloh. Eli, the priest, was sitting where he could see her. She was in deep anguish and sobbing as she was praying to the Lord. She promised God that if He would give her son, then she would give him back to Him for her son's entire lifetime. Eli saw her mouth moving, but no sound of her voice speaking, and made the assumption that she was drunk. "Must you come here drunk? Throw away your wine!"

Talk about being falsely accused and the wrong assumption made! On top of everything else, she had the priest accuse her of being drunk in the tabernacle. She told him that she was pouring her heart out to God, and to please not to think that she was a wicked woman. But she had been praying out of great anguish and sorrow. Eli told her to go in peace, and may God grant the request that she had made of Him.

Jesus had begun his three years of teaching and ministry while on earth. Multitudes of people followed Him wherever He went and would walk for miles to hear Him teach or have Him pray for their sick. Yet He was rejected in His own hometown and had to leave. (Luke 4) Their response was, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" They had watched Jesus grow up, had attended school with Him, seen Him labor alongside Joseph as a carpenter. To them He was just the son of a carpenter; no one special. Think of all that they missed out on by not accepting Him and listening to what He could have taught them; as well as the miracles that they could have received. Instead they chose to be offended and so He had to leave.

When Paul is writing to Timothy, he asked him to "never be ashamed of me, even though I'm in prison for Him (Jesus)." (2 Timothy 1:8) Later in that same chapter, Paul wrote that everyone from the providence of Asia had deserted him. He wrote, "May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains." In chapter 4, he named another man who had deserted him.

Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and suffered greatly for the work that he did for Jesus. Yet over and over again throughout his writings, he speaks about the importance of loving people. He writes about loving your enemies. Even though it apparently hurt him that he was deserted and left alone while in prison, he still chose to forgive and love. Even though he went on many missionary journeys to encourage the church and teach them about Jesus and how they should live, many would later listen to false teachers or grow weak in their faith. Yet Paul would send men that he greatly trusted to go to those churches to encourage them, when he was unable to go himself. He wrote letters to them to encourage them in their faith and tell them truths about how they should be living their lives for Christ.

I'm sure that there were many who misunderstood Paul and his ministry. They didn't understand why he had to suffer so much persecution for the sake of Christ. They may have even questioned if he was doing the right thing, since he did endure so much suffering and persecution. Yet Paul said that he counted it all joy. What God thought of him was much more important than people's opinion.

Matthew 7:1 says, "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged."

Luke said it like this, "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven."

Often we don't want to admit that we are being critical or judgmental of someone. We will justify it by saying, "I'm not criticizing, I'm just saying if they would do this differently..... or they just need to do this..... or they need to change..... or they just need to change their attitude... or they just need to......" I'm guilty! It's easy for me to try and get the log out of someone else's eye without taking care of my own self. It's less painful to think about how others should do things differently than to work on myself. It's less work to criticize someone else for doing something in a way differently than I think they should, than to listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to change me.

Instead of saying, "You're just weak for not being able to get your bottle cap off (so to speak), perhaps we should say, "Here, let me see if I can help you." Let's be encouragers to others! Let's stop before making judgements and pray for them instead, because God knows the intricate details of their situation much better than we do; therefore, He is wise enough to deal with it as He should. And let's love others deeply, as Jesus loves us!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I might have mentioned before that I am in a habit of biting my tongue when I watch parents in many cases. I have opinions, but they are all based on distant observation. Once in a while, I'll mention that another parent tried something and it either worked or failed for them. Mostly, I just tell people that I can't give advice till I raise a perfect child. And then my advice would be on how to raise that child; no others.

The thing is, even if we watch something work for one person, that doesn't always mean it will work for another, even if the situations look very similar. Sometimes the smallest of details that we don't know will make a world of difference in the outcome. (In physics, we call that chaos theory.)

But there are some things we can always advise. Accept Jesus. Go to God with your issues and problems. Speak to God, and in time you will learn to hear from Him, too. Accept and trust the Holy Spirit. If you still don't know what to do, then trust Him to get you through whichever decision you make.

ON THE MENEWE:

Dr Pepper BBQ Shredded Pork

Ingredient amounts depend on how big your pork roast is; so use your own judgment and according to your taste.

Place pork in crockpot.

Season with salt, pepper, garlic salt, garlic powder, etc.... whatever seasoning you like.

Pour Dr Pepper and BBQ sauce over the top of the meat.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours, until meat is tender and starting to fall apart.

Remove pork from crockpot and shred using 2 forks.

Place meat back into crockpot and stir to coat.

Serve on slider or hamburger buns.

Note: You could also add thinly sliced onions, banana peppers or any other kind of peppers, depending on how much heat you like, to crockpot on top of or underneath the meant when cooking, if desired.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

When my nephew, Jax, was almost four years old, he and his parents were taking an evening walk. Jax was riding his tricycle in the street and his mama got onto him, telling him that cars couldn't see him. Excitedly, Jax yelled, "I'm invisible?!?!"

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Don't concern yourself with things that don't concern you.

If it's not your business, do not make it your burden. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org