Chameleons! Series

Genesis 31:1 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has acquired all this wealth."

Did you know Chameleons shoot their tongue further than the length of their body to catch insects? In much the same way, people shoot out their tongue to bombard you with insults, curses, faults and false accusation.

This morning I could feel my emotions rising high, I was hurt over the words and actions of some people, though I kept absolutely silent about it, my mind refused to let it go. Sometimes when words spoken against us come to our hearing, it definitely pains us, more so, if it is from your own family, like in the case of Jacob. He heard his own cousin brothers (Laban’s sons) speak ill of him, they were accusing Jacob of confiscating all of their father’s property. This was an exaggeration, though, they were certainly jealous over his blessings. Mathew Henry comments: ‘Whom Heaven blesses hell curses, and all its children on earth.’

When you get to know that your own friend has spoken ill of you to your boss, or your ex-spouse is spreading nasty rumors about you or when you are framed with false charges in the divorce case filed by your wife, when the people on whom you have invested time and prayers turn against you and talk behind your back; how does one react to such cases? Some impulsive people, pick up the phone and scream at the person, send a nasty email/sms or call a friend and cry over their shoulder and some even publicly vent their feelings in their blogs or face book. Such reactions are absolutely immature and is a clear indication of your lack of proximity with God. Today social networking is no more used for getting to people but getting at people. Some demonstrative pictures posted in face book, also reveals the character of the concerned person. People love to go public about their feelings and emotions, we have lost our dignity somewhere midway in the so called computerized society. Am I right?

Today I did wonder, ‘why am I feeling bitter, angry, emotional and frustrated?’ (Now you know I’m no superwoman to say that I feel nothing, when people throw verbal-bombs behind my back or when you are royally ignored – I do suffer) The matter becomes more difficult, when you are dealing with people close to you. But I could triumphantly say that I dug my heels deep and refused to open my mouth to none but to God. When I felt miserable with the ticking of the clock, I locked myself in my prayer room, gave vent to my feelings at His Feet, made a decision to fast the next day for complete emotional healing and walked out of the prayer room definitely feeling better than before. Run to His Feet!

If you know of a spiritually matured person, with whom you can confidently share your feelings, carefully do it with God’s guidance; however, at every stage humble yourself to abide by His Word. God cannot speak to a scoffer.