Avis WooleySubstantial and Sequential. Why start a sentence with those words? Have I lost my mind or my train of thought? No. Even though it may seem to be a vague statement, its weight is meaningful. Let me define the words for you.
Substantial: of considerable importance, size, or worth. Sequential: forming or following in a logical order or sequence.
Over several years, something has repeatedly come to my mind. It’s like a plague that won’t go away; when I think I have overcome, BAM! It’s back again. It wasn’t until a few days ago, as I was thinking about the thing, the Spirit of the Lord said to me, “You have a beam in your eye.” Woof!!–to my surprise, I was startled. I said, “what do you mean I have a beam in my eye?” I was on the defensive. He took me through a series of events; it was an eye-opening experience. All the while, I was more focused on the substantial thing (mote) in my brother’s eye that I didn’t see the sequential something (beam) in my eye.
I was disgusted. How could I have allowed myself to become so captivated by seeing my brother’s faults and becoming blinded by self-pride? I was shameful and hurt at the same time. This is not the first time that the Lord has rebuked me. I ask the Lord to help me walk in His divine will: and in doing so, things that need to be uncovered and dealt with are a part of walking in His Divine will.
You may ask, why would I put myself out in the open for others to see? I am reminded of these scriptures: Psalm 94:12, “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teaches him out of thy law“; Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent“; and Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” I welcome the chastening of the Lord: it ultimately works for my good to have the creator of everything caring about me to show his tender mercies and divine plan for my life. Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Once each of us believers realizes that it is not our place to see the mote in others’ lives without interceding in prayer for them. We are the body of Christ, and when one suffers, we all suffer. We are not to follow the ways of the world (sequential), whereby we see Christians as judgemental. It is so substantial that we follow the teaching of Christ to become a greater witness for him.
I want you to examine yourself and see that the things that come into your life are to mature and not destroy you. Be conscious of who you belong and that you have a family of believers who need your help, just as you need their support. The Bible teaches us to pray for one another without ceasing, in season and out of season.
I thought it was right to see the importance of my brother’s issue(s) and the scope and size of impact it makes on everyone connected to them. And yet, without fail, I brushed the problem (s) off as “that’s just them.” It was logical for me to follow the sequential order of the world’s way of thinking: to count us Christians as losers, underachievers, and believers in false hope. Instead, I was sporting a beam in my eye, forgetting that we are the body of Christ; we are in this fight together. We win as a family. We fight as a family. And we will see our Savior together as a family.
Avis D. Brownlee-Wooley
