WHO’S IN CONTROL?
Matthew
28:18-19 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples…
I try to be sensitive to the
Lord about each person who comes through our program while still holding fast
to our guidelines. It would be easier to follow the law to the letter, but I
don’t think that would be the best for each client. Mercifully, we serve a
living God who is able to lead, guide, and direct us. We are not following the
last will and testament of a deceased wise man. He lives, He lives, Christ
Jesus lives today.
Many of our residents get upset when a client receives
different disciplinary actions for the apparently same infractions. We all seem
to have an innate sense of right and wrong, and when it is not followed it is
very distressing. This is especially true when we feel another person has been
in the wrong. How is it that we always seem to see all the extenuating
circumstances when we are the offender?
God makes it clear in His Word that He looks upon the
heart. That is what I try to do when I counsel and discipline the residents. I
endeavor to see the reasons behind their behavior and help them to grow through
their trials. In the parable of the workers, the master did not reward each
according to the hours they worked, but paid them all the same wages at the end
of the day. The workers were very upset about the injustice of that, but Jesus
pointed out that each had received what they had agreed upon. It was actually a
metaphor showing that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved…It also
illustrates how different God’s thoughts are from our thoughts…It also boils
down to one thing. Either you believe that God is in control of your life or
you don’t. If He is in control, then He is in control of your authority and how
their actions will affect you. If He is not in control, then you must continue
to try to be god yourself by controlling and manipulating every situation in
your life. How tiresome…
Excerpt from The
Lighthouse News by Jeff
Retsyn, August 2008