Kristin know's best...or so she thinks:)

I wish I could say that I never have a single ill thought about anyone or have spent anytime wondering just what went on in someone's head to make them do what they did...but, sadly, I have wasted much time in frustration over choices people have made, especially when their choices have involved me or caused life to be more difficult for me as a result.

I wish it wasn't such an easy tendency of my flesh to assume I know what is best for everyone else and, at least in my head, spend time planning out what I think they should be doing or fighting irritation over what they did do that seemed, to me, to be an unwise decision.

Truth is, I am not talking about blatant sin issues...those are clear and God's Word calls us to be discerning and to hold each other accountable. I am talking about all those other "decisions"...the ones that are not so clear to me, the ones that I don't have all the facts on but still end up convinced that I know what the best course of action is....even if, in the process, I end up having to do some judging of heart motives.

And, in the end, these thoughts leave me reminded that I, like Paul, am the chief of all sinners...forgetting that only GOD "discerns our thoughts from afar" (Psalm 139:2)and that true wisdom is found in Him for He IS wisdom (Prov. 9:10). He has called me to "live a peaceful and quiet life,godly and dignified in every way." (1 Tim. 2:2). To be careful how I walk..."not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16-17). And I have been commanded to "work out MY salvation with fear and trembling(Phil. 2:12)...not someone else's!

With my lips I proclaim that "In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign,does not declare,'That is mine!'”(Abraham Kuyper)...but with my heart and thoughts I go about often seeking to BE god in the lives of others (whether they realize it or not). Ugh...that is not a fun truth to own up to, let alone type out!

So, I greatly appreciated an article, written by John Piper, that a friend emailed me. You can click here to read it all but let me share the opening paragraph with you:

One reason to admire and trust Jesus above all other persons is that he knows more than anyone else. He knows all people thoroughly, their hearts and their thoughts. "He knew all men" (John 2:24). "You, Lord, . . . know the hearts of all men" (Acts 1:24). "And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, 'Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?'" (Matthew 9:4). There is no one who perplexes Jesus. No thought or action is unintelligible to him. He knows its origin and end. The most convoluted psychotic and the most abstruse genius are open and laid bare to his understanding. He understands every motion of their minds.

What am I thinking???? Surely, I can rest in the fact that He knows everything, holds all things and everyone in His hands and He will do what is BEST in each and every situation. I need to trust that He will complete the good work He has started in others and that He is way more intimately involved in their life than I am (Psalm 139:1-6)! I need to be Kristin, daughter of the king, slave to the most wonderful Master in the Universe,and sister in Christ to the dearest family of all..the family of God! Most of all, I need to be renewed in my thinking and affirm God AS God...not just in word, but in my thoughts of others too!