He's Not Petty

 Luke 17:19

"Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well"" 

Just before we dive into this message. I just want to give you a quick heads-up! 

I know I have been missing for a while. To explain my side, please don't shoot, these posts are normally written a month in advance and for three weeks' worth with a week of break for me. However, some months have more than four weeks like August. So the week break turned into 2 weeks. 

This would probably be the case for the months that ends with 31 days moving forward. 

Still would like to hear from you guys, so don't be afraid to comment and/or send an email. 

Love you, byeee. 

The post begins: 

The scripture above is pulled from the story about the 10 lepers. 

For those who are not familiar with this story. There were 10 men stricken with a skin disease that didn't paralyze them, but outcast them from everyday life.

In the story, Jesus stumbled upon the men and healed each and every one of them from their disease.  They were able to now return to civilization and family from staying however long outside of their town. 

However, when it came to giving thanks to the person who had healed them. Only one of them had come back. 

Now, I can probably focus on the fact that these men only needed God for the time being, and when they got what they wanted they disappeared. 

I can also zoom in to the idea of what true gratefulness is and praise the one for returning and thanking Jesus for healing him and giving him another opportunity to be amongst the perfectly normal living. 

But, that would not be me at all, right?

Instead, I want us to focus on the end of the story. The way Jesus reacted.  

I want us to see how unlike and gratefully so, Jesus is not like man.

Jesus, after healing a group of persons and only seeing one come back to say thank you, wasn't sour or bitter about it. 

He didn't say let me teach them a lesson and send back the illness only leaving the one who thanked Him healed.

He wasn't petty.

Every day I am grateful that the God we serve isn't like human beings and that His mind doesn't change about us. 

Yes, He is a jealous God and He's just when we want to be lenient, but besides that, he doesn't waver on the dysfunctional emotions that we tend to fall prey to. 

He doesn't yank back his blessings from us. He doesn't withhold his desire to see us healed or delivered. 

He always wants the best for us regardless of how we respond to His giving.

Let's look at the children of the Israelites, the ones who didn't get to enter the promised land. 

Although we all could have seen from the moment they stepped foot out of Egypt they weren't deserving of the land flowing with milk and honey, God still didn't relent in giving them what He had promised. 

Regardless of how much they turned their backs on God and complained, He still had the promised land available for them as their inheritance and that was final. 

The same went for the 10-lepers. 

God knew there would only be one that would be grateful enough to turn back and thank Him for the healing, but He still healed all ten anyway. 

The point I am trying to make with this is that God doesn't and will never sink to man's level of tactics and games. 

If He has promised He will do something for us, He will do it regardless of what we do or say. 

He does not reap havoc in our lives when we don't do something. 

He's not playing a game with us. He's not going tit for tat. 

The blessing, the promise, and all that is good will continue to remain in the path of our journey, but it is up to us how we handle it. 

The promised land wasn't ruined because of God's pettiness, it was ruined and devalued because of the children of Israel. 

When we receive blessings and it goes away that has nothing to do with God being mad with us, but what we have done to cause it. 

Jesus gives the 10 lepers the power of healing. Only one knew what to do with it. 

Only one was able to tell the good news about how it happened. 

The others just returned to their lives before they were sick. Trying to fit in and blend back into society. But, the other man, had a testimony he can share with the world. 

I encourage you today to get out of the taught process of sabotage and ungratefulness when it comes to the blessings in your life. 

Trust that God isn't there just waiting for you to misstep so that He can snatch it away. 

God is not Karma.

Remember that things happen for reason and season.

Maybe it happened because of something you needed to learn. 

Maybe it happened to show you something. 

Maybe it happened because you weren't properly ready for it. 

Regardless of it all, remember that God is not petty concerning His blessings and favor. 

He pours on the just and the unjust. 

~TheRay