I’ve done it. I’m sure you have too. Whether it was a text, email or phone call, accidentally contacting someone you didn’t mean to. Today I was the recipient of an email that wasn’t for me…yet it was about me. And it wasn’t very nice. The sender quickly sent another email right after they had realized what they’d done, apologized for their language and let me know that email was not meant for me. For some reason I just started laughing and could not stop. My kids came over wanting to know what was so funny. I didn’t want them to see this inappropriate email (especially one about their mom!) so I just shared what had happened, leaving all names out. My oldest said if she had received an email like that she’d be pretty angry at the sender. I just continued to smile and every time I thought about it that day quietly laughed again. I wondered why in the world I’d be able to laugh in a situation like this but in the back of my mind all I could think of was those verses I JUST highlighted two nights prior.
It’s no coincidence that the Lord brought me to Isaiah 51. I love so many verses in Isaiah. God has led me to many at the exact time that I needed to hear them. This time was no different. That night when I read it I decided I needed to memorize this one because it was something I struggled with every time I dealt with this particular person. I was giving them power, more power and credit than I was God. God is the maker of all of us, including those that don’t treat us well. God sees all. God knows all. I need to remember that MY God is bigger than any mean person. That may sound a little “kiddish”, but hey I am with 8 year olds all day long. 🙂
Here’s my letter from Him:
Dear Beloved,
Listen to Me, you who already live out what is true and right, who treasure My instruction within your hearts.
Don’t be afraid of people’s scorn.
Don’t let their dismissive criticism, bitter anger, or hatred get you down.
For they’ll come to nothing; they’ll be eaten up as a moth eats a shirt; they’ll be consumed as a worm feeds on wool.
But My justice will endure. I will extend My saving action to every generation. Isaiah 51:7-8
I am the One who comforts you and gives you peace, so why are you afraid of human beings? The children of men are only grass; they’ll wither and die.
Have you forgotten Me, the One who made you and the whole world, who stretched out the skies and made sure the earth’s foundations? Yet you constantly worry about others – how they hate and might harm you. But their anger counts for nothing. Isaiah 51: 12-13
I’m sure I won’t always have a reaction that is laughter when I’m facing adversity. But for today, I did. And for that I’m thankful.
letters2myself 