Thursday, August 26, 2010

Watch Your Attitude

Acts 10:17-32
I like Peter’s attitude! He has been instructed by God to keep an open mind, to consider no one unclean or profane. So he accepts an invitation to visit with Cornelius and his household, even thought they are Gentiles—a breach of Jewish law. Now all he wants to know is why he is here and what’s going on (Acts 10:29)?

I’m afraid I don’t always respond that well—to God or to people. I ask questions. I resent the bother. I grumble about the inconvenience. I even challenge God’s intentions for me, or whether God is even at work in my life at all. Maybe you are like me. Maybe you hesitate or question as events unfold. If so, I think you and I need an attitude adjustment. But if you are like Peter, if you “go with the flow” (at least in this instance), then good for you.

Think about Abram and Sarai who were told by God to leave their homeland and did so out of faithfulness. Think about Joseph and Mary who were told about a baby that Mary would have and who respected the message. Think about any number of others who have accepted a challenge or stepped out in faith believing that God would explain things when the time was right—or not, but who went anyway. Clearly it is okay to question God. The psalmist made a career out of it. But what Peter did was to worry less about the details and instead to be open to God’s work in his life. What Peter would find, what all of us would find, is a lot of surprises and many signs of grace. That’s why I like Peter’s attitude. That’s why I wish I was the same way.

Prayer: Lord, you call your people to do many things. Sometimes we are slow to respond. Sometimes we offer objections or complaints. Sometimes we look for excuses not to get involved. Help us to overcome our fear, our need to control our lives, our resistance to your grace. Help us to live with open minds and hearts, trusting you to use us in ways we never expected. Amen.

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