One aspect of my wife Joy's final illness was that she lost her ability to make appropriate social judgments. As result, she would often say things that were painful to hear. One day when I was particularly frustrated by this my daughter was walking past and heard my frustration in the tone of my voice.
My daughter turned to me and said, "Dad, it's not about you."
Her meaning at the time was completely obvious. She reminded me that what my wife was saying was really not about me at all. It was the product of the inability of Joy's brain to function and make appropriate decisions about what is nice to say.
But in that simple statement, "Dad, it's not about you." my daughter also conveyed to me a revelation from God. That revelation has been changing my life in all the subsequent weeks and months.
Father God keeps echoing the statement, "Stuart, it's not about you." Like most people, I have often looked at the circumstances of my life and felt that I was somehow being hurt by the way God permitted the events to unfold around me. But God keeps trying to get me to understand, "Stuart, it is not about you."
When you hear people saying hurtful things to you, more often than not it is not about you. It is about their own wounds. When the tire on the car or bicycle goes flat, it is not an attack on you. It is a loving God protecting you. When the sunny day turns rainy, it is not about you.
It will help us all if we find a less self-centric world view.
His, thus Yours,
Stuart
2 comments:
Stuart, I love your message. Several years ago a member of my family gave me a big label pin that said "It's All About Me." She meant it to be funny, but it was not because I saw the truth in it. That's how I came across to my family. It was a huge revelation like yours and has changed, I hope eternally, how I view those around me. Blessings on you and the new grandbaby.
Which one of your children had a baby boy? Congratulations Grandpa :-) So exciting :-)
Post a Comment
Your comments are very valuable to the Bride and to me.