This post is not about my criticism of something or someone else. It is actually about someone criticizing me and how I am dealing with it.
Not well.
For starters, criticism is hard to deal with anyway you get it. The criticism I was given was by someone that I know wants the best for me and for our church family. It was not harsh or hateful. It was however given at a completely inappropriate time. And it caught me off guard.
And what was the most difficult part to deal with was that the two things I was being criticized for, I had felt lead by the Holy Spirit to do. But what this did was cause me to even more quickly and fervently run to my Father and ask Him to help me lay it at His feet. This was very hard and took some time. I didn't want to let go of it. And for a little while I wasn't supposed to.
I had a lesson to learn. I'm actually still learning it because this just happened yesterday and so I am still currently dealing with it, but I am beginning to see some light and to see some things clearly.
But the light and the clarity didn't come without a battle.
Our Enemy does not fight fair. Hear me clearly: He WILL kick you while you are down. He is an opportunist and uses every opportunity he gets. That is why God tells us to be AWARE.
My first reaction to receiving the criticism was to completely withdraw. I'll just not do anything because I obviously can't do it right. All this reaction does is try to self preserve and it in no way glorifies God. I knew it was not an option.
My next reaction was to just slink back a little. Fine. I'll just shut up and sit still. This however is just a lesser version of the first reaction. And as I continued to pray this through I realized that it too was not an option.
My decision in the midst of criticism is to keep going. I am going to learn from my mistakes. I am going to keep what God has told me to keep and I am going to let go of what God has told me to let go of. And I am going to KEEP GOING.
God has confirmed that I indeed was following His leading in my decisions. Maybe they were meant to bring light to some other things our group needs to deal with. No way to know except to let this all play out.
I still have the knot in my stomach and I am still having to fight to not constantly think about it. But my decision is made.
I WILL KEEP GOING.
You should too.
Bridget
3 comments:
I don't know what the situation was, but I too have had some situations with the same feelings. I prayed to God to help me know that what I did or said was right. He'd tell me right away, "Yes, you did what was right. Because I told you to!" I have been messed with by the enemy because he'd give me this doubt. He'd pry into my thoughts, and give me confusion. But God reassures me, what I did was right. I prayed God would remove these bad thoughts in my mind, just to clear it, and He does. I let God take care of it, cause He wants us to. Letting Him roll up His sleeves and take care of "bidness" lol. Just like you said, the enemy is there waiting for every opportunity. He's got himself prying into this situation. I'm glad God is there to help in this and that He'd clear things up. Hope this made sense and helps :)
This was encouraging to me!
Love ya
Indeed, we must continue and not be discouraged when things like this happen. Instead, just as you said, we must learn from them. We may not know what is to be learned and by whom it is to be learned until a few weeks or months down the road. But we are still required to be responsible citizens of the Kingdom.
Thanks for sharing your struggles with us here. I will continue to pray for the situation and all who may be involved.
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