Day 27: Understanding God's Judgment

I'm "not in a good place" at the current moment, but I know it will pass. I pretty much know the reasons why, but either way, it's not conducive to me writing a blog entry right now. However, I must press on. . .

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Or not. I'll catch up tomorrow.

The opening part of this chapter makes a good point: we really don't like to think of God as a judge. There's a lot of negative connotations with the idea of "judgment", mostly because it involves the word "punishment" or "retribution" or some kind of payment. We don't necessarily like the idea that there's some being out there that tells us how we are supposed to live and what kinds of things we should and shouldn't do, and if we don't follow those, then we are "bad people." The truth of the matter is that regardless of whether or not we want to be judged, we are going to be, and we are ALL "bad people." You can imagine the best person in your whole life, or maybe someone that's well-known as a "really good person," and guess what? They are not perfect, and only in living a perfect life can we alone live up to God's standards. But even if we took that out, we can't go a day without breaking one of His commands and offending Him in some way. We don't even know how much we sin, even in just a few hours! Thankfully He doesn't catalogue our sins; if we are saved, then He has cast them as far as the east is from the west.

And what a burden we try to take on ourselves when we become judgmental! How are we to know the hearts and minds of those whom we look down because of their bad deeds on OR give a carte blanche to those whom we look up to as good people? We make the same mistake, although the circumstances seem opposite. We have to trust God as the ONLY fair judge. God knows everything, and we can't hide anything from Him. When we start to realize what awesome power and authority there is in that statement, it is easier to rest and not look at people as "good" or "bad" but instead as wayward souls whose only hope is to become connected to The Life. We also need to trust His timing. That can be so tough, especially when we really want something specific to happen in our lives or in other's lives. The problem with impatience is that it almost always has an unseen negative effect: "[w]hen we try to separate the wheat from the weeds, inevitably we'll make mistakes and do damage." If God's plans are not fully in place, important things can get messed up, and then it will take even more time than it originally would have if we would just leave well enough alone. Finally, we can be confident in facing the Day of Judgment. How lucky we are that we don't have to wait until death to see what happens: if we know Christ, we know we are going to Heaven! That sounds a bit circular in reasoning, but we have heavenly Proof of Insurance in the Holy Spirit. That's a deposit; that's our ticket stub into the grandest theater we will ever enter. So we don't have to worry about the punishment because it's already been taken care of. Will we still be held accountable for what we've done on Earth? Of course. And how we do here directly impacts our role in heaven (go back to the camp entries for more about this). Instead of judging those who are struggling, why don't we support them so that they, too, can strive for that heavenly work ethic and perspective in life?

Point to Ponder: The more I trust God as judge, the less judgmental I'll be.
Remember that we can't see into other's hearts. What basis then do we have to judge them on? Actions may be telling, but think about how many times you've seen or heard about someone who was "such a good person" commit some horrible act. Or think about the stories of those who were "bad people" that get their life turned around and start contributing to the good of their community. How do we judge them; based on their past, their present, their future, their current actions, their apparent motives? The answer is WE DON'T. We need to love them in whatever capacity we can. That's the end of the story.

Verse to Remember: 1 Corinthians 4:5- "Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God."
This verse reminds us that God will judge our good actions as well as our bad, and He isn't just looking to condemn sin, but also to praise us for our hard work and commitment to His will.

Question to Consider: Am I trusting God to judge fairly?
It's another control issue. We want so much to see the other person "get what they deserve"; have we stopped and thought about what we truly deserve to have thrown on us for everything we have done? I don't know about you, but I'm glad it's God's job to judge and not mine, and I'm even more glad that He has provided a way for us to be kept from the ultimate punishment that we so deserve to receive.