When convicted . . . .

Let God Show You

Preachers are guilty of rhetoric, and in particular that are guilty of asking rhetorical questions. Well, I suppose it would take too long to go round the congregation waiting for all the answers, wouldn’t it? But every now and then a preacher will ask a question that gets the listener right in the heart. Such a question was asked recently by our pastor as he preached on Sunday morning. “How would you stand with God if you went home right now?” He was speaking about total forgiveness. Thats when Holy Spirit dug me in the ribs.

I’m sure we have all had moments like it. One minute you are sitting there quite happy in the presence of God, thinking your standing with Him is OK. The next minute He reminds you of something and convicts you and you know you have to do something about it. This happened to me recently. The question didn’t matter but the reaction from me did.

My first reaction was, “Surely not? Me, Lord?” I was vaguely shocked to hear the Lord confirm His diagnosis. Immediately my mind went into overdrive as I rushed through my memory banks to recall any incident where I may have hurt or upset anyone. Nothing came to mind – of course – I was probably blocking it out. So I enquired of the Lord, “Sorry Lord, I don’t know what you mean.” Again He simply convicted me although He did give me a clue. It lay in my somewhat caustic sense of humour. I was guilty of at least one, maybe more, cheap shots with my barbed remarks. I thought everyone loved them – they always raised a laugh.

A short time later I asked my wife about this and she knew exactly what this was all about. She reminded me of some not very nice jokes I had made, “all in fun” of course, of a real friend. He had looked somewhat mortified as everyone else enjoyed the moment. “Did I really hurt him?” I asked. “Yes, you did, and you owe him a proper apology.”, she replied. Thats when the Holy Spirit chipped in. “You need to ask his forgiveness.” He said. Now it was my turn to be mortified. I really had not intended anything other than a bit of fun. I mean, I was perfectly OK with others doing the same thing to me as it was the only way I had ever ‘operated’. If you can’t take it, then don’t dish it out. I have a lifetime experience of ‘taking it’ and giving it back. I didn’t realise anyone could be hurt by it.

Oh dear, time for a bit of true contrition, repentance, and maybe some forgiveness coming my way. And all because the Holy Spirit nudged me and I had listened. What if I hadn’t listened? What if I had rejected the idea and ignored Him? Can God forgive me? Not if there is unforgiveness in my own life. So I have sought out my friend and I met him this week to sort this out. It had to be sorted – I had hurt a dear friend. Unintentionally maybe but I have hurt him nevertheless, He deserves more respect than I have shown him although he is too much of a gentleman to say anything to me.

Often, we know exactly what the guilty feeling is all about, but sometimes we don’t. So instead of just ignoring Him, we must ask Holy Spirit to show us and if we are still in the dark, we will need to ask someone close to us. Then we need to listen again to Him while He teaches us some more.

We must not allow breaches in the wall. We have to repair them as soon as we see them – whatever the personal cost. We just have to allow God to show us the way. Then we go and say sorry.