Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. …”
John 9:3 The Message
Oh…! How often we want to blame someone else… and not take responsibility for our neglect… our choice… our stubbornness… in a situation… or circumstance… that all of a sudden… goes wrong…!
Look what you made me do…!
I saw it in myself yesterday… wanting to blame others… anyone…! for something I missed…
A writing project… one I’ve been working on several months… one that’s been delayed… mostly because of things outside my control…
In the editing a proof I thought was ready for printing… I saw it… a major industry standard neglected…
An error I felt stupid for missing… not seeing…
An error that means the whole manuscript needs to be realigned… page by page…
Oh… I couldn’t believe I missed it…
Then… it only got worse… when I saw in myself the need… desire… to blame anyone… but ME…!
It was a struggle to take responsibility for it… but I did… with internal belittling… and berating…
At the core is how stupid I would have felt if the project had been completed… finished… without any one catching it…
So I’m now… moving toward seeing God’s hand in it… in all the delays… in all the complications… not to blame Him… but to thank Him…
Thank You… Lord… for every delay… to get me to the place of seeing and correcting… Thank You… Lord…
But… back to the blame issue…
This only highlights something I’ve been walking through in my inner life… dealing with past sins… sins that left deep wounds…
Oh… how I want to blame others for every choice I made…
Even God to some degree…
What is up with that…?!
When we don’t embrace our part… in the choices we make… the way we respond to our own actions… our own blind spots… our own giving in to go somewhere we never intended to go… because of our own fear of loss… whether it be rejection… or losing something that feels like love… we miss out on His grace…
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1John 4:8-9 ESV
So… if you find yourself today… blaming others… for past or present choices you made in the moment… take another look…
Ask what your responsibility was… or is… how did you really end up where you are…?
If it is yours to own… own it…
Seek His grace…
Give Him thanks…
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 ESV
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