Hebrews 5:1-3 “Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.” This episode explains that everyone is going through something and we rarely know what that is. This verse is a call for us to pause before reacting and remember that along with remember that we are not perfect, we all make mistakes. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Stop and Think Before Reacting
Hebrews 5:1-3 “Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.”
This verse is talking about the high priests and how they should e able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray because they themselves are subject to weakness. I don’t think this verse just applies to high priests though. I think this verse applies to each one of us. I have noticed a lot lately that we, as a society in general, are not being very gentle with each other. It seems to me that we are getting more and more inpatient. We seem to forget that we are subject to weakness and that we are not perfect. It seems as though society is getting less and less tolerant of those that make mistakes. As if we don’t all make mistakes in one area or another.
Perhaps I am noticing this more because I am teaching my teenager how to drive. If you have not had the pleasure, you are missing out. It definitely increases your prayer life. Driving with a new driver also helps you develop patience. You have to remain calm because if you freak out, they will freak out. This is like pretty much everything in parenting. Kids take their cues from us. It is easier to patient and calm when you are in the car with your child and you know they don’t know how to drive. It is easier for you to empathize with what they are going through because you can see that they are trying and that they really want to learn. However, what if you are not the one in the car with them. What if you are in the car behind them? What if you are stuck going 20 miles an hour in a 25 mile and hour zone because that is as fast as the person in front of you is going. How easy would it be for you to have patience for that person?
The other day while my son was driving we ended up on a road I did not intend for us to be on. I had him stop by the side of the road so I could explain he had two options. This car came up behind us quickly and was not happy we were stopped. They started honking the horn and telling us to go. I politely asked them to go around us. However, they had pulled up so close behind us that they would have to back up to go around us. They were not happy. There was a man driving the car and a woman in the passenger seat. When the car went around us the woman unrolled her window and yelled something at us. My son was instantly angry that they would be so impatient. I get it though. They didn’t know what was going on, they didn’t know he was a first time driver. The thing is, we rarely know the whole story. Would they have reacted that way if they knew he was a first time driver? We don’t know. Maybe they would have been compassionate, or maybe they were having a really bad day and it wouldn’t have mattered. Maybe they were in a hurry for some reason and we will never know what it is. The point is that we rarely have the whole picture. So, what can we do about that?
We can treat all people with compassion. We can react with kindness even if we don’t understand. We can remember what this verse says, "He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.” We all make mistakes, we all have good days and bad days. If we can remember this when we are frustrated with others, maybe we could react more gently and with understanding. When I was a teenager I was stopped at a stop sign and there was a stream of cars that were running the other stop sign. I was annoyed that they weren’t stopping and so I beeped my horn and then took my turn. However, I happened to be turning the same way they were and realized it was a funeral procession and that is why they were running the stop sign. Of course I felt awful and immediately pulled over to let them all pass me. We just don’t know, so much of the time.
We have no idea what others are going through. I have a friend that suffers from chronic pain and yet you would never know it by looking at her. I know someone who was in an abusive relationship and yet we never knew because she hid it from us. People don’t tend to talk about the bad parts of their lives. Whether it is because of shame, embarrassment, fear of being judged, fear of being hurt, or whatever else, we don’t share large parts of our lives. I have really tried to adopt the idea “everybody is going through something.” Whenever I get frustrated I try to remind myself that I don’t know what they are going through, what their cross to bear is, but I do know we all have one. Trying to remember this in every situation helps me to respond with compassion. It helps me to be more understanding. I have heard people say that they honk the horn because they want the person to know that they did something wrong, so they don’t do it again. Think about when you were driving and you made a mistake, maybe you cut someone off, or you stopped too quickly, or you forgot to blinker, whatever it was did you need someone to honk at you to tell you you did something wrong, or did you already know? Most of the time we know, we didn’t mean to do it, that is what makes it a mistake.
Can you imagine how much better the world would be to live in if we were free to make mistakes without people jumping down our throats when we did? Can you imagine how much less stressed you would feel if you weren’t so angry anytime someone did something you didn’t like? It is not our job to fix everyone or correct everyone. This verse above talks about how the high priests should deal with those that are ignorant and going astray. It was actually their job to try and correct those that were ignorant and going astray. It was their job to try to help direct them back to living the way God wanted them to live. However, God didn’t tell the priests to yell at them and order them to get their lives in order. He didn’t tell them to judge them and treat them badly. The priests were supposed to be gentle and to remember that they are subject to weakness also. I believe this verse is a call to all of us. Whenever you find yourself wanting to yell at someone or find yourself frustrated with something they are doing, I urge you to remember that you are not perfect either. You do things that others find frustrating and when you do, how do you wish they would react to you? Not, how do they react, ask yourself, how would I like someone to treat me if I was doing this?
If we just stop, take a moment and remember that we don’t know what this person is going through, or what the whole situation is, then I am willing to bet we would react a lot more gently than we currently do. What about you? Do you think you can deal more gently with people knowing that you are not perfect and that we are all going through something?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to be patient and calm with those that frustrate us. Help us to pause and remember that everyone is going through something before we open our mouths. Help us to react more gently remembering that we are not perfect either. Lord, we pray a special prayer of blessing and protection for all those that are teaching children how to drive. It is not for the faint of heart. Lord, you are so amazing. You have done so much for us and we are so very grateful. Just the fact that we have cars to drive is amazing. You are so powerful and mighty. We love you lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Our guest for tomorrow’s Witness Wednesday is Tracie H. Tracie is going to tell us about her experience with faith growing up and how it changed over the years. She is going to witness how God is there for us when we need Him, even if we aren’t always there with Him. She will share how amazing He is at bringing people together just when they need each other the most. I know you will lover her witness. I look forward to sharing it with you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!