Hurt Feelings

One of the toughest lessons to learn in this life is that your personal feelings are often irrelevant. I really mean that. Of course, there are some situations and relationships in which your hurt feelings are the most relevant aspect involved. But those situations are very close to home and heart, and for most of us, a great deal of our lives are lived beyond our most intimate circles.

And even there, we sometimes get it wrong when we let our personal feelings be the judge. I could totally flip out on my husband and have an emotional fit--and be not only wrong for exhibiting the fit, but wrongly motivated for having it to begin with.

It takes hard work to look past our personal feelings and evaluate a situation from an impartial point of view. I'm talking across the spectrum here, in everything from our relationships with family, with friends, with acquaintances and even that jerk driving too slowly in the car in front of me. When I've made the struggle to look past my FEELINGS, I have often seen that I am completely in the wrong. That, of course, is hardly any fun at all, which is why I think most of us avoid looking too closely, most of the time. (Am I being harsh? Maybe you do this all of the time?)

Anyway, here is where all of my rambling comes into play with God. I can't even count the number of things in the Bible that hurt my feelings. I'm not trying to be flip about this either. I should more accurately say that there are many things in Scripture that deeply offend my sense of justice and my own personal opinions.

Let's start with sin. The Bible tells me that all are sinners. That ALL is comprehensive. It includes that sweet little lady that I sometimes see walking around in my neighborhood, the funny guy who makes everyone laugh at every gathering, the person who reads the news to me on television, the crossing guard who stands in the middle of the road and seems to take her authority to the extreme by flailing and stamping her feet at every car driving past. Every one of them, no matter how kind, charming, famous or quirky, is a sinner who deserves God's condemnation.

That offends me sometimes, even though I know and accept that it is true. I didn't mention myself in the above list, because I have no illusions that I am free from sin. I have gotten to know myself too well over the years and I am not at all deceived about my lack of inherent goodness. But when it comes to other people, it is harder to swallow.

On a smaller scale, suffering and tragedy offend me. I know too many people who have suffered through gut-wrenching circumstances to gloss over this reality of life. You probably do too, when you stop and think about it. Or you could just turn on the news and listen for a few minutes. Your own personal bubble of life might be pretty charming and peaceful, but that is not the case for the majority of people in the world. Painful things, horrible things, really happen.

And that offends me. Where is God? How could He let this happen? Why is He allowing this? How can this be good? If God is so loving, why did he let that child die? If God is just, how can life be so unfair?

But, as usual, my feelings (while normal) are wrong. God is just, He is loving, and He is in control. I don't understand how all of those seemingly inconsistent things fit together, but I accept by faith that they do. And I accept that God sees things differently than I do. And He is the one who is right, and I am the one who is wrong.

Isa 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

Fortunately, God is bigger than my puny emotional reactions. He has compassion on my confusion and weakness and invites me to struggle through those feelings by interacting with His revealed Word, Scripture. You see, I can't go around struggling with shadows and imaginations. I have to deal with God in truth. And the place to discover who God really is and what God really said is in the Bible ALONE. My feelings and I the things that I think are right don't count. Because, usually, they are flat out wrong.

If you have never studied something in the Bible that has offended you somehow, I can't imagine that you are actually paying attention to what you are reading. The Bible is not some kind of happy-happy-joy-joy fluff story about a swell guy named Jesus who just really liked and loved people an awfully awful lot.

It is the story of a Holy Creator God and the creation that rebelled and hated Him. It is a story of gut-wrenching, sacrificial love on the part of the Creator, and rejection and scorn on the part of the created. And the amazing Redemption of that creation back into fellowship with the Holy One, at the total cost to, and initiative from, God.

It's a hard read, but an amazing one. Because you and me and all of humanity don't get to play the hero's role in this true story. We get to play the villain. And a crazy reversal of justice takes place, as the villain becomes the cherished, adopted son of the hero, despite it all. If it wasn't such a good deal on my behalf-and yours-I would be tempted to be offended. But, as usual, I would be flat out wrong.

P.S. - I really shouldn't go for so long without posting. I tend ramble when I finally get around to writing something. Hope all of the above actually seems cohesive.