EXCUSES!

Excuses are a personal pet peeve of mine. I've learned not to offer them for my own shortcomings because they sound so lame, and I don't like hearing them from anyone else. I appreciate a person's candor much more than I do some story they might concoct as to why they did or didn't do something. Even silence is better.

I know many teachers, and I wonder, on the average, how many excuses they hear from their students in the course of a work week. I expect young children and teenagers to try excuses because their character is still under construction. I'm sure some of the responses they give are very amusing. Excuses from adults are not funny though. They're a character flaw. It's far better just to man-up or woman-up, tell the truth and soldier on. It's a sign of maturity. I came to the realization many years ago, and although it can make you initially uncomfortable to tell the truth, you will gain respect from it in the end because people will know that you're being straight-up with them.

I did have one occasion on which my honest response angered someone. She was a telemarketer. I tried to interrupt her before she started her spiel, but she shouldn't let me get a word in edgewise to tell her I wasn't interested. I let her ramble on for what seemed like ten minutes and at the end she asked, "Are you ready to take advantage of our offer today?" By that time I was already irritated she had used up my time and hers and I simply replied, "no." "NO!? What not? Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of this offer?" She sounded angry and incredulous. I said, "because it's my prerogative to say no." Wow! That really set her off. She launched into a tirade of expletives and I simply hung up on her. I don't have to listen to that.

I recalled this while I was reading my daily devotional this morning. I noticed that excuses don't carry truck with the Lord either. In Luke 14: 16-24, Jesus tells the parable of the great banquet. In the Middle East in those times it was customary to send out an initial first invitation for a response--much like we would send out an RSVP today. The invited guests in this parable had already accepted the first invitation and committed themselves. However, by the time the second invitation arrived summoning them to the banquet, they reneged because they had changed their minds. They didn't tell the host they had changed their minds, but they all gave excuses. The host was furious! He cut off any future invitations to those people and called others to enjoy his feast.

There are no good enough excuses for not serving God, and verses 25 through 27 of that same chapter tell us that our commitment to the cause of Christ supercedes all other relationships--even those with our family.

Are we offering God excuses rather than our service? There are no "yes, buts" with Him. There's no straddling the fence. Jesus says in Luke 11: 23, "He who is not with me is against me...." Joshua urged the Israelites in Joshua 24: 15 to commit either way to whom they chose to serve. He declared that he and his house would serve the Lord. Be honest with Him and yourself and make a choice to go either direction.

Love ya,

God Bless!

The Sound of Silence

Wasn't that a Simon & Garfunkel song? Anyway, I'm sort of bummed. Okay, no, I'm a lot bummed. I'm going through a valley right now--a valley of discouragement. The sound of silence I'm referring to is that I've yet to hear God's answer to a long held prayer. I'm undecided about whether I should continue praying about the matter or just stop altogether mentioning it.

I know that I'm not the only person who has ever become discouraged. In 1 Kings 17, Elijah was disheartened after fleeing from Jezebel after her death threats. He was hiding in the Kerith Ravine. He felt abandoned but God had not left him. God sent the ravens to sustain him with food. In Genesis 21, Hagar felt she had been abandoned with her son and left to die in the Desert of Beersheba. God provided her answers there.

I'm hanging on. I've examined myself and tried to repent of everything I'm aware of that could be hindering my prayer from being answered. Hopefully, He'll send word (through results) soon.

Love Ya,
God Bless!