Psalm 55:22 tells us to “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” Do you feel your heart burdened these days with everything going on? I do. Last night, I was praying to God in anguish to help us, to heal our nation, to forgive us, to protect us, to end the virus, to end this violence, to end the hatred… The list was endless, and my heart was heavy.
It is difficult to sit back and “watch the movie of life unfold” while not judging everyone’s acts. But the Bible also tells us clearly in Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “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.” Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 4:5 we read, “So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.”
So these days as we observe others commit violent crimes, I encourage you to look inside your own heart and ask yourself: What am I doing in my life that is not pleasing to God? What can I do as an act of love to help others? Striving to live a holy life on a daily basis is easier said than done. But once again, the Word of God reminds us in Hebrews 12:14-15 to, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”
Based on the current events happening all around us, our human tendency is to immediately judge. But the Bible tells us to not do that. Instead, give ALL your burdens to the Lord so He can take care of everything. Every single act by every single person will be judged in due time but by God not by us. We will get our turn to be judged and that’s when everything we have done—good and bad—will be tried by fire to see what stands in the end.
I will leave you today with the message from John 3:18-21, “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Today I encourage you to examine your own heart and not judge others. Let God do the judging and give all your burdens to God.