Salty

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Salty

Scripture:

Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Mark 9:49-50

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Devotional:

There are days when I wake up to read the Word and I have warm and fuzzy feelings about the scripture I am reading. Other days, like today, it was hard to swallow and I found myself struggling to see what God was trying to tell me. That is a real place.

I am working out a problem with a group of people right now. It isn’t resolving as quickly as I want it to, and I recognize that I was partially at fault. I was completely at fault for my part of the conflict. It would be really easy for me to justify my anger with the other people based on the circumstances, but removed from the circumstances I know – and I have known from the beginning – that I was wrong in my handling of this situation.

Another layer to this mess is the trials we are walking out. We work with a very challenging little boy, making it very difficult to find time to talk with this person about the issue we have. Also, right in the middle of this conflict my father in law fell terminally ill and passed away. Our family was under extreme pressure, and struggling with raw emotions while trying to operate a normal life. These real circumstances might look like they caused my outburst at the person who offended me.

Not really.

The truth is, the choice the other person made was and is one that we want them to change. It is for sure something that we expect them to respond to, and might even be a legal matter. However, because they did not respond the way I wanted them to as quickly as I wanted them to, I became angry and retaliated by giving them “a taste of their own medicine.” Ugh.

It’s been weighing so heavy on my spirit. I have written a letter of apology to all involved, and am waiting for the contact information that I need to try to get that letter out. To be honest, if I told you what had happened you would probably side with me. That being said, God didn’t call me to this kind of reaction to others. He has called me to be salt. So here I am, reading the Word and preparing to share, and I am feeling SO SALTLESS. I feel I have lost my witness with these people, and my soul is deeply grieved to the core. I do not want to have this issue, I do not want to wrestle with this part of my flesh. I want to be salty, I want to be full of flavor that is delicious to the world. Not vinegary, pungent, and nose-wrinkling.

I am pressing in to God today, allowing Him to be the author of this problem. I will continue to humble myself and pray that He will allow me to grow out of this.

UPDATE: And here we will get to celebrate the hand of God moving. Wow. I had to take a break from this post, because I was out of time, and because I just didn’t have the settling that I had received all the Lord wanted to show me. This morning, as we were hurrying out the door, we encountered the people that we had the conflict with. Friends, I have lost so much sleep over this lately. I just can’t get it off my mind. I don’t want to have problems with others, unresolved issues, tension. After our encounter, God showed me that in fact, the other party had been dealing with the issue from their side and had recognized the need to work the problem out. Oh, merciful Lord! You are so good. You always give us the chance to be humble, to repent, to learn the lesson You want us to learn. Thank You that You work things out in Your time.

The lesson for me today is that I get to choose in the future how I will approach others. How to confront, when, and in what heart and motive. To be direct, to be clear, and to be humble.

I pray that God will make me more salty all the time, that I will not lose my flavor and turn others away. I want to first be salt to my family, and to the world around me as well. I want to show my children how to walk and navigate hard situations, and to do that I need to be able to do the same. Oh, to be salty. Let it be!

Prayer:

Father, I thank You for the daily lessons You give. You are so gracious and good. I also thank You that this doesn’t depend on my ability. You are the One Who causes me to flow in this life by Your Spirit. I surrender everything to You, Lord. I cast my cares upon You, for You care for me.

I lift my child(ren) to You today. I so hunger for their lives to be flavorful, salty, and representative of You. I pray that You will work in them to cause this to come to fruition.

I lift up (area of need or concern) to Your throne today. You are the author of my days, and You are the One Who will cause this to be made right.

Bless Your holy Name, Lord. I love you and worship You today.

In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.