Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Burnt Taste Buds

I was just on Facebook and my cousin had posted that she "just burnt [her] tongue... Real bad!"  I feel bad for her of course, but her post got me thinking about all the times that I have had been "burnt" in my life.  I even began to think one step farther about all the people that I have "burnt" in my life and the effect that I have had on others.


There have been times in my life that I have felt that God has left a bad taste in my mouth.  After a failed marriage, I put a lot of blame on God for what had happened.  I felt that I had my tongue 'burnt' by the whole situation.  You see, I was in a place of ministry where I was working with great people, with an amazing youth group and I even had a great office with a fireplace and the whole works.  But that was all gone with a blink of an eye and I became 'burnt' by the where I was and with what was happening.


In Psalm 34:8, David states, "Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"  The truth is, God is not the one that left the bitter taste in my mouth, but it was my conscious choice to blame Him for what had happened in my life.  The fact of the matter is that the position, the youth group, even the office wasn't mine to get attached.  In actuality, those things were becoming idols in my life and taking precedent over God and all He wanted was to have me put Him first.  If we are not attached to things, we don't get a burnt taste in our mouths when things don't go the way that we think they should.  The reason is because we know that we can taste and see that God is good.  He provided and continues to provide through those situations.

When I think about the people that have hurt me and the people that I have hurt, only one thing comes to mind ... Forgiveness.    Again, it comes down to making a choice to forgive, but also to ask forgiveness of those that you know that you have hurt.  Colossians 3:13 states, "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."  We need to continual forgive those that burn us and seek forgiveness for those that have 'burnt' us. 

For those readers of this blog that I have burnt or hurt in some way, I humbly ask your forgiveness and know that I am well aware of my faults and failures, but request your grace as I strive to be more like the one who allows me to be forgiven.

So to my cousin who burnt her tongue, I am sorry that your tongue is suffering from this temporary pain, but thank you for the reminder that we need to forgive those who hurt us and seek forgiveness of those that we have hurt.  I hope your tongue heals quickly.

Never Lose the Passion,
Dean

No comments:

Post a Comment