I find it interesting how different people are freaked out by different things. Freaked out might not be the right term, but, it works for me.
For instance, I am part of a newsgroup for guinea pig owners. I am CONSTANTLY amazed at how people agonize over what to feed their piggies, and oh no...how do I cut their toenails....and my piggie grumbled at me this morning...what ever did I do wrong? Don't get me wrong, I care about my piggies, I want them to healthy and hearty and all that, but I don't agonize over them. I cut their nails, and if I draw a bit of blood... flour stops the bleeding in time. I assume they know what is healthy or not for them to eat. I don't take them to the vet the moment they stop looking quite right. And yet, other people just agonize over these things.
Similarly Jim and I went camping this past week with out boy Justin. He is just 3.5 months old now, and camping we went. The sheer number of people that were simply amazed that we would do that astounded me. It's like how could you do that? What if he gets cold? What... what and so forth. I find it quite fascinating at times, and I will admit, at other times it is quite irritating.
When I gave some thought to that, I realized that I want people to be as relaxed about the same things that I am relaxed about, and tense about the same things that make me tense. :) Like for the life of me I can't understand why people like rollercoasters. It's like "ah, ick!" I don't always show the patience and understanding that I should when people are different than I expect them to be. Something I need to work on.
But then I need to realize that in God we are "fearfully and wonderfully made". God made us who we are, gave each of us different gifts and abilities. Each one of us somehow shows who God is. Does sin get in the way? Indeed it does. It makes us fearful about things we aught not fear, It makes us focus too strongly on other things (i.e. the health of piggies as opposed the need for sinners to be saved) and it creates all kinds of problems.
In Jeremiah 9 this morning I read that what God delights in is the people who understand and know him. This is what he wants people to care about, to boast about. The fact that they know and understand God. This is what our focus is to be on. If we don't, if we as a people turn from God then we deserve the punishment that God metes out to us.
Therefore, even though it still amazes me what stresses people out, I have to always remember thatwhat delights God is my understanding and knowing him.
