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By Benedikt Schwabe
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This past spring, my son and his wife had a dog given to them due to an unfortunate event of circumstances happening in the previous owner's life. The dog seemed like a fairly well trained pet and was quite the beauty, and as anyone would be to have such a pet given to them, my son and his wife were delighted to receive him into their household. As it turns out, a few of the details about this beauty of a dog were not mentioned prior to acceptance of him, such as; he had a phobia with being left alone. This dog was a good-sized fella and quite strong as well, which presented the problem of him having the strength needed to bust out of the crates they tried to put him in while they were out of the house, as well as his ability to tear up doors in an attempt to not be secluded from his masters. Obviously, due to the dog's large size, strength and phobia it would take special accommodations to secure this animal properly, of which my son and his wife could not provide. They were therefore discussing the options of relocating this dog to a home with better provision for him.With that knowledge being stored within my informational bank, my other son and I took our dog to his vet appointment. While sitting in the reception area, waiting for our turn, a woman with a dog on a leash entered into the front of the room and waited for service at the receptionist desk. While she stood there I was noticing the dog and how much it resembled my other son's dog. I kept questioning within my mind if that could possibly be his dog. Surely not. On that note, I decided to snap a picture of the dog, thinking I might send it to my son to show him how much this other dog looked like his. It was uncanny at the resemblance.
Here's the Twist
Okay, now is where the story takes a surprise twist....when the receptionist greets her, the woman with the dog says to her, "I'm here with (the name of the dog) for his appointment". What?!!! That's my son's dog's name!!! So now I'm studying this dog more closely, same appearance, same name, even same dog collar! I draw my other's son's attention to it and he even confirms it seems like the one and the same dog. Now it was quite a coincidence that the new owner brought the dog into the vet when my son and I happened to be there, but I'm feeling a sense of relief that obviously they had found a new home for their dog. I proceed to send the picture I had taken to my son who owned the dog, as he was at work that day, to show him..."hey, look who showed up at the vet's while we were there!" To my surprise after he received the picture, he began with a series of questions as to why the dog was there with someone else, and so on. Neither he nor his wife had given the dog away, and neither one of them were at home that day. Was it possible that someone who may have known they wanted to find it a new home, took the dog in their absence? Had someone stolen the dog? Assumptions and various scenarios were running rampant to say the least!
Cutting through the chase now, we had made the decision that on my way home I would make a trip to his house just to verify the dog's whereabouts, or in this case - MIA status. I arrive at my son's house to find, lo and behold, his dog was still there, at home safe and sound all along. No way! Oh but yes...yes indeed he was there.
Although by all appearances - everything lined up in such a way that it was more than easy to assume those two dogs were one in the same. They looked identical, they wore the same collar, and how crazy is this? - they even had the same name. Even though all of those facts were in place, the truth is, they were not the same dog at all.
We passed judgment by means of appearance of the situation and assumed by weighing in all the facts that our final judgment was truth of the matter at hand. According to our analysis of the facts, someone else had taken their dog. Sure, the facts were there right before us, we could see them as plain as day, but truth did not rest within the facts of what we could visibly see. Our natural vision gave us the facts before us, and our logical mind converted that into what was truth according to what we believed we saw. It was a very deceiving situation, our eyes told us one thing, but the truth was something different.
Walking by Faith
Often in the Bible we read how we are not to go by our natural eyesight alone, but to walk by faith, by a greater depth of the spirit man, rather than allowing the natural man to rule over us. Our natural man was born into a deceptive world, a deceptive flesh that can at times be deceiving to us. How many times have we thought we've seen one thing only to find out our eyes have played tricks on us? Or how many times have our thoughts gone in the wrong direction and we had a circumstance totally misunderstood? Have you ever heard the lyrics to a song incorrectly, and thought for a period of time they were saying one thing merely to discover that you had been singing the wrong lyrics for the last two months? Sometimes those scenarios can be quite amusing and we get a good laugh out of them, because they're harmless, but what about the scenarios that can actually cause damage because we, by way of natural perception, failed to realize truth over what we saw as facts?
"And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. and his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' So he answered, 'Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, and said, 'Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." 2 Kings 6:15-17
When the servant judged the situation by what he could visibly see before him, his conclusion was that of failure for the battle they were about to face. But when God allowed him to see what was truth beyond the natural facts presented before him, he then saw a totally opposite perspective. Victory!
We've all heard the saying, "don't judge a book by it's cover," not only is there wisdom in it, it actually lines up with scripture. When we judge a book by what we see on the outside, we decide immediately whether that book's content is interesting and worth reading or not. In other words, we don't give it a fair nor genuine chance. We look at it and draw our conclusion entirely by what we see on the outside, without knowing in the least bit about all the wealth and depth it may be hiding within it's core.
God instructs "us" not to judge, because we merely look upon the outward man and cast our judgment on what we "view" as to be factual.
"But God told Samuel, 'Looks aren't everything. Don't be impressed with his looks and stature. I've already eliminated him.' God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
On the other hand, God being the only one who can see the true heart of a person, along with every thought and intention within circumstances, He, and, He alone, judges purely and righteously.
Although it may seem a bit trivial that I wrongly judged in my conclusion about the dog, it absolutely was a powerful lesson for me to learn, in a hands-on method, if you will. The most memorable lessons to us are the ones we walk through rather than simply read about. Thankfully, in this particular instance it was a dog and not a person. Experiencing this in the way that I did was not only an eye opener for me in a sense, but it also showed me how in our humanness we misjudge one another wrongly, not necessarily because of ill intentions to hurt one another, instead simply because of human error.
Don't Break the Flow of Unity
Several years ago, I experienced this same type of judgment on the other side of the fence. I was wrongly judged based on the appearances of a situation I was walking through in my life at that time. That was honestly the most devastating and hurtful time throughout my entire life (up to this point), to have many of my fellow believers to believe what they perceived as truth based on the appearance of the circumstances.
Why was that so devastating to me or for that matter, to any other person who has had the same experience? When we accuse, judge or assume wrongly with one another, we're wounding a vital part of our own body. As the Body of Christ, we are one in Him. We are all extensions of the same body, with Christ as our Head, and therefore we are called to walk in unity with one another. Accusations and judgment break the flow of unity by causing wounds, suspicion, mistrust and oftentimes, shame. All of those things hinder us from being truly unified.
Keep in mind, various circumstances can form and shape the appearance of a situation, both positively and negatively, nevertheless, that does not mean the heart of a situation is as such as what the appearance suggests it to be.
Judging by the outward appearance, we may believe certain people are wealthy when in reality they are struggling to pay their bills. But we don't see that part of their lives so we make conclusions on their nice clothes, houses and cars they have. I know of a man who lives in an old shack of a house, dirty and filled with trash. He never looks clean or well dressed, and needless to say by all appearances if one didn't know differently, one would believe he is very poor. The truth is, he is financially very well-off!
There are couples who seem to be happily married, but behind closed doors there is abuse taking place within the marriage. We only see the smiles and therefore believe they are the picture perfect image of what a marriage is suppose to be.
Oftentimes, if you drive past our house, it appears that we have someone visiting us, when the neighbor's visitor parks in the driveway next to our house.
I'm sure at the time Jesus was hanging on the cross, dying, it appeared to be anything except victorious.
Love and Unity
God has called us to be a people of love and unity and that means there is no room for judging and condemnation among us. Does that mean we can never disagree? Certainly not. Disagreement and judging are not the same. In fact, when disagreeing in a correct manner, it should not invoke disunity at all. For example; You may think a Ford is the best vehicle ever made, while I think a Toyota is. We disagree about that matter and yet we can both drive the vehicle of our choice to get us to the same prayer meeting and pray together when we get together! I realize that may be an insignificant topic of disagreement, opposed to the more heart-felt ones that seem to be more likely to bring disunity, but nevertheless, if we also realize that it's not our appointed position to change a person's perspective, and leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit as we should, then I believe we could more easily continue in unity with one another, as we choose to focus more on the One who knitted us together as one body, rather than the point of disagreement itself.
We are spirit filled beings, encased in a natural body by which we use natural senses to perceive the world around us; (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste). With that being said, how do we go beyond our natural perception to prevent judging one another? We already know that our natural perception fails us in discerning the true intent of the heart. It's by the gift of "grace" that Jesus gave to everyone willing to receive it. It's the only way we can overcome the inclination to pass judgment by what we perceive of the natural appearance of people and situations.
A few months ago, I awoke to hearing the Lord say, "Forgive them, they know not what they do. Grace is the element for healing, let grace arise and let grace abound. For as freely as you have been given, just as freely give." That means with no strings attached. There were no, if's, and's, or but's, to the grace we were given. Only a "receive." Therefore, what we have received, we are to also, give.
'Forgive them' might apply to those we "see" in sin, and yet, just possibly, it might just as much apply to our own inclination to pass judgment on those we "assume" are in sin, for the sake of what it appears to be. In either case - rather than being judge and condemner, is it not of greater benefit to our own body to nurture and care for each fellow member?
When my finger was broken, I did not cut it off, instead I took special care of it until it was restored. Isn't that the least we should be doing with one another? Even if the truth is that one of our members is sinning, can we not see how much better it is to lovingly tend to them until they are restored? Wouldn't each one of us want that for ourselves? I have no doubt, I would.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:39
Walking as One with the Holy Spirit
Everyone is talking about revival. What is it going to look like? How will it be ushered in? How do we get it to begin? I personally believe the answer has been before us all along and it's so obvious that we're missing it as we're searching all over for some complicated and hidden formula. But it's not complicated, and it's not hidden, I believe it's simply what God is all about. When there is genuine, unconditional love, there is also grace, and when love and grace are active they create unity. When there is true unity among the body, the greatest revival will burst forth like a blazing fire.
The following scriptures are confirming unity and the power of people unified as one. Just as I stated earlier, with as many people that are included within the context of these scriptures, although they were in unity with one another, I highly doubt every person agreed on every single matter within their day to day living. If I could instill any one thing within your remembrance today it would be, disagreements do not need to create disunity. The lack of grace creates disunity.
"And the Lord said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them." Genesis 11:6
"They agreed they were in for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus' mother, Mary, and his brothers." Acts 1:14
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Acts 2:1
The Holy Spirit is beckoning us to truly walk as one in Him, to allow our eyes to be drawn away from judging one another from what we see in the natural and into truly loving one another with the Father's heart. LOVE ~ GRACE ~ UNITY.
Abundant Blessings!
Taffie Beisecker
