Looking For Stones: Finding What You Look For

I've always heard that if you look for something hard enough...you will find it.

The problem is that many of us automatically default and look for the worst...dismissing the best.

I get cut off on the road and in my mind that person is automatically a jerk. 

The teacher who delays emailing me back is uncaring, dismissive, and not wanting to be bothered. 

My child delays in responding to my call or text. I automatically automatically assume they are dead in a ditch. Once I talk myself off of that ledge, I default to believing they are being rebellious and refusing to talk to me. I view them as completely irresponsible.

My husband suddenly has an "extra project" with work and has to go in early and stay later than normal. I doubt his faithfulness and assume he is doing something he shouldn't be.

Can you relate to this way of thinking?

What if the world paused when the guy cut me off and I was able to pound on his window and tell him what a jerk he was, only to find out that his mom was dying and he was trying to get to the hospital to say goodbye. Who is the jerk then?

What if I ran into the teacher who hasn't responded to my e-mail in the grocery store and proceeded to "Let him have it" for not getting back with me, only to find out that the servers had been down and he'd been giving up his personal time to battle it out with tech support? Who is the uncaring person then?

What if my child walks through the door after not responding to my texts and I start berating her for ignoring me: when I finally allow her a chance to explain, I find out she couldn't respond because her phone was taken up because I texted her in class? Who is the irresponsible one then?

What if I doubt my husband's extra meetings are work meetings and decide to follow him. I see him go into a restaurant and join another woman. I barrel in making a scene ranting a raving, only to have him introduce me to the rest of his project team that walked in right behind me. Who is the one doing something they shouldn't be doing?  

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend,‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.", (Matthew 7:3-5, NLT)

You see, we will find the jerk, the uncaring, and the irresponsible person. If we look for it, we will also find the person who is doing something they shouldn't be doing. Most of the time, that person can be found in the mirror. 

Why is it that we default to looking at others through lenses that see the worst? I challenge you to consider that it is a heart condition...

 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.", (Luke 6:45, NLT)

We can put on lenses to see the "good" over the bad. In doing that, we will be blessed...its a promise!

"God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.", (Matthew 6:7-9, NLT) (emphasis added)

Father God, Help us to be people who produce good fruit. We invite you to do heart surgery on us right now and remove the dark places that would cause us to bear bad fruit. Help us lay down our stones and stop looking for the offense. We lay down our stones in exchange for a pure heart from you. In Jesus' name we pray~ Amen