Devotion

Devotion

Just Because
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people. --- Revelation 22:21

Before I grew in my understanding of God’s grace and mercy, I sometimes felt guilty about His goodness in my life. I understood the guilt I felt when I knew I was so wrong in my ways, and yet God blessed me anyhow. That guilt served to convict my heart to get my act together so I could face my Lord with a clear conscious. But this other guilt that I struggled with came from times I would tell family members and friends about how God spared me hardships, and He blessed me... just because. I expected them to be happy for me and to share in my joy. But that was not the case. Instead, I felt resented and ignored, especially if I did not physically divide up my blessings with them.  For example, my employer blessed me with a four-day weekend! I needed the time to rest. My sister crucified me because I would not paint the entire interior of her house while she went away during that same weekend! Then there was the time my buddy and I went to pay our utility bills. He paid his first, and then I stepped up to the counter. The clerk smiled at me and said, “We made an error in your bill last month due to a glitch we discovered on your house meter. You do not owe us a payment for the next three months!” While I was in grateful disbelief, my buddy got jealous and did not speak to me the entire time it took for me to drive him to his house. But I have long grown from feeling guilty about instances like these and many others. It became clear to me that just because I have testimonies to share about the Lord with others - that does not mean all hearers are mature enough to rejoice with me. I should never feel guilty about what the Lord does for me. What He does for me - He will also do for others…just because.