God Works Through a Fortune Cookie

The title of this blog may sound strange. No, I know for a fact it does sound strange. But then we know that God works in strange and mysterious ways. Recently a former employer of our grandson became angry and called him an idiot. Then this individual went on to say, "You can tell your grandparents too. Then they can shoot me dirty looks since they are such upstanding Christians."

Being a human being and a grandparent, my initial response was "pay backs are hell." I wanted to strick back, get even, take revenge or get someone in trouble. That proves the humanity in all of us, because most parents and grandparents have had those "pay back" moments. I remember years ago, seeing a man stand between a greyhound dog and a coyote. The hound was so intent on catching and destroying the wolfe that the man didn't slow it down and the man was seriously injured. I have sometimes, in my human moments, said, "You can say what you want about me, but don't you dare attack my kids." Thankfully, my wife is much wiser than I and usually tells me it's like Exlax. Wait until the next day and see if I still need it and often I find that I don't. The anger has somewhat subsided even if the hurt hasn't.

So what does a fortune cookie have to do with this? Today I had lunch in an oriental restaurant and after I finished eating I opened my fortune cookie. I wish I had actually kept it, but it started out by saying, "You are not bitter....." I said yea, I am too. But then I thought, "How did God give me that exact fortune cookie?" I almost always wonder how God did whatever. It is beyond my understanding, but then He does work in strange and mysterious ways in case you hadn't noticed. I then remembered part of Jesus' sermon on the mount in the section from Matthew 5 known as "The Beatitudes," where he said "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." The world "blessed" actually translates "happy." That's why Dr. Robert Schuller calls them the "Be Happy Attitudes." Imagine that.....be happy when people say hurtful things because they know you are a Christian. Still, if we are honest with ourselves, the human side kicks in and says, "I'll be a lot happier when I get even." But the truth is we are not happier. The only way to be happy is to say, "Thank you Jesus that they recognize You in me." Jesus says, "Pray for your enemies." Strange thing......when you begin to pray for your enemies you wake up one day and realize they are no longer an enemy. How does that happen? It's a change of heart that can even start in a fortune cookie.

That forgiveness is not instant oatmeal. Sometimes it takes a while, but it happens when we pray for those who insult us, hate us, try to hurt us, tell lies about us. So, I invite you into a little experiment. Think of those who have treated you unfairly and pray for them everyday. Think of someone you may have judged for something they did and pray for God to forgive you and show you how you can help heal them. I grew up in the 60's generation and I remember one of my favorite songs was "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." What we need the most is the sweet love of Christ, healing, forgiving, strengthening, granting peace and restoring relationships. Love as Christ loves us......and think we killed him.

God bless you and God bless America. Next blog goes back to the political side of me.