One of the hardest things that I have to deal with personally is when I feel that other people are intruding in on "my" time. It actually takes a number of different forms. For example, if I'm involved in a TV show or a book, and my wife calls on me to do something, I tend to get kind of irritated. There have even been times when I would 'kindly' let her know that I was really involved in something else and didn't want to be bothered.
At other times, it takes the form of phone calls. If I'm working on something in my office, and the phone rings, a lot of the time I look at the phone as an unwanted interruption. I could be getting a lot of other things done rather than talking on the phone.
This same thing happens when I have things planned out, and then other things come up that disrupt my plans. In each of these instances, I tend to be less than gracious toward those who interrupt me.
Then, I read the stories of Jesus. Jesus, who spent all day with the crowds, and then went at night to talk to His Father. Then, in the morning, when it seems like He'd like nothing more than to rest, the crowds are coming up to Him again. They have more sick people for Him to heal. They have more that they want to hear from Him. And so often, we see Jesus graciously giving them what they want and need.
That kind of graciousness seems supernatural to me. (Of course, since it is Jesus, it is supernatural, since He is the one true God.) And I find that there are times in my life where it would be greatly beneficial if I were to respond to other people with that same graciousness. Since God has shown such great grace to me, why should I think that I don't have to show it to others?
What are the times in your life where you tend to feel less than gracious toward others when they encroach upon your time? Are there some ways that you can remind yourself of what it means to be gracious to others? These are things that I am always interested in learning. And I hope that you tend to be more gracious than I do when these kinds of situations arise!
At other times, it takes the form of phone calls. If I'm working on something in my office, and the phone rings, a lot of the time I look at the phone as an unwanted interruption. I could be getting a lot of other things done rather than talking on the phone.
This same thing happens when I have things planned out, and then other things come up that disrupt my plans. In each of these instances, I tend to be less than gracious toward those who interrupt me.
Then, I read the stories of Jesus. Jesus, who spent all day with the crowds, and then went at night to talk to His Father. Then, in the morning, when it seems like He'd like nothing more than to rest, the crowds are coming up to Him again. They have more sick people for Him to heal. They have more that they want to hear from Him. And so often, we see Jesus graciously giving them what they want and need.
That kind of graciousness seems supernatural to me. (Of course, since it is Jesus, it is supernatural, since He is the one true God.) And I find that there are times in my life where it would be greatly beneficial if I were to respond to other people with that same graciousness. Since God has shown such great grace to me, why should I think that I don't have to show it to others?
What are the times in your life where you tend to feel less than gracious toward others when they encroach upon your time? Are there some ways that you can remind yourself of what it means to be gracious to others? These are things that I am always interested in learning. And I hope that you tend to be more gracious than I do when these kinds of situations arise!
You'll have a lot more practice in a few weeks :-) Being gracious when Lucy takes up the few minutes of "me" time I have is my biggest weakness in this area. If I have put her to bed and know I finally get one hour of doing whatever I want and then she wakes up, it is very hard to feel loving. Luckily I can act pretty well so on the outside I'm all about hugging and patting her back but my mind is screaming "Just one hour a day kid, that's all I want!"
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