Speaking Up, Out and For Oneself

I guess there are times when it is okay to speak up, speak out and speak against even the most righteous.  But ONLY if that righteous one is wrong.  And being human, we are all bound to be wrong, we are human after all.

It’s funny, I was cleaning out my Inbox and came across this link that my Wonderful Mum sent to me:

http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm

Soooo, I click on it and it takes me to a page titled:

“The Bible (on one sheet of paper),” with so many choices.  I take a quick pick and I wind up at:

Galatians 2 (New International Version)

I will admit that I did a quick read, not too deep or meditated upon…but what I said is the gist of it.  Well, there’s more, there’s Paul stating that, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

But, there is that whole section of Paul opposing Peter.  PETER, the ROCK!

Imagine how difficult it was for Paul.

Okay, perhaps it wasn’t.  He was used to being contrary to begin with, but he was a different man now.  He knew that Peter was the Rock.  And yet, he spoke up and opposed him.  What courage!

You see, I need this.

I recall growing up and even as an adult, I would always hear grown-ups around me and my Mama Lola say that God spoke to you in so many ways.  All we had to do was listen.  Specifically, however, I recall being told that when in doubt, when I felt lost, or needed guidance, to just sit down and open up the Bible and that the Lord would speak to me.  That I would “hear” what I needed at that moment.

Well, in our age of technology, many times…okay, I rarely…Fine! I HARDLY EVER sit down to just open up the Bible.   And here my Mum sends me this link that serves that just purpose.  I just clicked and voilà!  What I needed!

I was told a couple of weeks ago by my Baby Bro, my Coma-Sis and my Husband that speaking up and defending my feelings, expressing them rather, was a good thing.

Quite obvious to the vast majority of you, but not so for someone who is always “nice.”

Sadly and quite painfully, at present, I find myself without my Babies, now two teens and a tween, though they will always, always be my Babies!  And I have not wanted to rock the boat.  I have not wanted to stir the pot.  I have not wanted to…I’m sure you understand what I am getting at, I did not want to agitate things for fear of losing them further.  Little did I know I was losing them regardless……As I was saying, I really have not stood up for myself, voiced my feelings or opinions in relation to my Babies.  This “habit” as you may have guessed, carried over into other areas.  I did not know that either…Unbelievable, innit!!  But I didn’t.  I didn’t even really consciously realize that I was clamming up.  I just went with what felt right at the moment.  It may not have felt right, right, but it was a pretty good choice at the time.

Oh the convolutions of it all!!

What I am saying is that when you start to not speak up, even when you should, when you ought to, then, what happens is that you become accustomed to not doing it at all until that is who you become.  That is who I was becoming.  More accurately, who I became.  A couple of weeks ago, as I stated, I was pushed, in a good way, to speak up.

I gotta tell ya, I was sh**ting myself!  Pardon my language, but I was!  I was nauseous, I felt sick, my stomach hurt, I was trembling, there was no way, no way that I could speak up.  But I did.  I DID!

I spoke up against the righteous.  Or at least that’s what they think they are, and to some degree, they are.  Infallible?  By no means!  Perfect?  Please, we’re talking about humans!  But do they have a right to be hurt? Yes!  Does that hurt give them the right to abuse?  Absolutely, positively NOT!  And I said so!

YAY, ME!  Will there be backlash?  You’d better Believe It!!

But speaking out against what is wrong, against hypocrisy that is leading others astray…well, that’s what Paul did!  And I guess to some degree, that’s what I did too!

 ¹¹When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. ¹²Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Having read this passage, having lived it, I know WHY I found it.

Thanks be to God.

Oh, and I am listening, or at least trying to…