Preparing for class today

I had occasion to read 1 Samuel 12:20-25 in a new light. Many things have come in a new light lately, I’m not real sure what is going on or why, I just know that I’m seeing things a bit differently.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be talking about restoration within the church, which is one of the areas that those people who are non-believers or fallen believers like to focus on. It seems as if they delight in a Christian’s failures and surely they do because it makes them feel better about their own pitiful lives.

Last week, we discussed prevention and things we can do to keep from falling. One of the more interesting things to come out of our discussion was in the area of falling into sexual sin and rebellion. It never just happens, it is always preceded by a series of steps that we take, sometimes knowingly, sometimes innocently. But always steps that can be stopped long before we fall. Even the “one night stands” are the result of a series of steps taken.

First Samuel 12:20 tells us not to be afraid after we have fallen but to get back up and start serving the Lord again. That is oh so hard to do, especially with the self-appointed hypocrite watchers waiting to pounce. As humans, we tend to seek the favor of our neighbor before we seek the favor of our Creator. Yet, the Creator says that He will not abandon us to the likes of the hypocrite watchers, that He is determined to make us His own.

There are times when I’m embarrassed about the things I’ve done. I’d rather just crawl into a hole and not expose myself to the criticism sure to come from the hypocrite watchers. It’s hard to see that they are simply scared, pitiful little men that do not have the benefit of allowing themselves to be loved by their Creator. They wallow in self-pity and self-righteousness, always seeking to pull others into the pit with them, never seeking to climb out.

As hard as it is to ignore them, to not be hurt by the slander, I’ll keep trying my best, knowing that my best isn’t good enough and depending upon the love of my Creator, turning my life over to Him, reaching my hand out to Him when I fall, knowing the He will lift me up, away from the hurt of the hypocrite watchers and into His loving arms.