I owe my God an eternal debt for the stress my sinfulness gives Him…
I had a problem at work the other day. It was not a little problem – it was a big one. And when I realised the extent of the problem, I was very upset about it. This is not to say that I was hysterical, it is to say, instead, that I was just terribly upset. Someone who worked with me had made a mistake – human mistake – and now it was up to me to sort it out.
Now, the mistake was not made in bad faith and was not made vindictively. Instead, the mistake was made in a way that was just terribly silly and needed a bit of paperwork to patch things up and restore the order to where things were supposed to be.
And this meant that there was a lot of untangling to do. Thank God things passed in a relatively calm manner – and I was blessed that through the Grace of God the problem was sorted and put behind me in a relatively quick time – but nonetheless there was a problem to be solved.
As the manager – and business owner – it was my responsibility to deal with the issue and to take responsibility for it. This meant that I was subject to the complaint and was responsible for sorting the issue – much to my stress…
And I have been reflecting on this today as I have been reflecting on God the Son. You see, I carried so much stress about the issue that occurred that I was completely overwhelmed with stress about it. My first thought was to protect the people who work with me from the brunt of the displeasure of the error. And that reminded me of God. When we sinned – first as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and then increasingly more frequently and seriously in life in the millennia since – God immediately assumed responsibility for our sins.
And how unfair that is. He who is sinless and perfect. He who is wronged. He is the Being who is suffering for our sins. He is the One who was wronged. And even so, He is the One who suffers to atone for my wrongdoing.
And this makes me so sad today. Because when the person who works with me made the mistake, they admitted responsibility for it and apologised profusely for it. They were deeply apologetic and I knew that they felt just terrible about what had happened.
But when I wrong God, I do not apologise wholeheartedly. I am not terribly sorry for it. Instead, I stand by while He is crucified, and I say nothing and do nothing. Sometimes – if I can be bothered – I will make a half-hearted Confession of my sins. And even then, I do not take into account the full extent of my sins and I act almost as though God’s Forgiveness is owed to me and not a precious treasure for which I must be eternally grateful…
And I have been thinking about that today. For it seems to me that I owe my God an eternal debt for the stress my sinfulness gives Him…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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