The Rooftop
Two weeks ago commenced a series of unexpected events. Miguel and I were bumping heads on a daily basis. We were in disagreement over insignificant matters. My buttons were being pushed left and right (or rather, I was allowing these buttons to go off as my pep-pees seemed to increase with Miguel’s attitude). I hid in the bathroom. I prayed it out. I cried. I worshiped. I tried the silent treatment (I know, I was being bad). I thought, and thought, and thought. I kept a grudge on a hurtful comment for two days. Those two days seemed eternity. I finally said, “Lord, I need your help here. I cannot make it on my own. I am upset with him, and I do not want to let this to grow any bigger. He does not understand. I don’t understand. S.O.S.!”
Then, we had an emergency meeting with our mentors, our Pastors, and as we spoke about an issue to be dealt with, VOILA! The Lord gave a word for a situation….without them knowing it was for my situation too. The message was: “Why do you allow for this person to keep stealing from you? They are stealing your blessing when you keep their offense in your heart. God says, ‘Until you stop judgment and release their offense, I cannot move.’ Restrained movement. This means that once you leave it in God’s hands, THEN He can deal with the person.”
It dawned on me that I was trying to take action in my own hands when it was a heart issue that only God could deal with. I felt peace, and my heart said, “I get it, Lord. I forgive and forget. You do what you have to do. If You make him understand, THANK YOU. But, if You choose to not deal with him on this matter, THANK YOU anyways because I know my life, our lives, our marriage is in your hands.”
We began talking about Proverbs 25:24. It says that it is better to be on the corner of the rooftop, and to live with the quarrelsome spouse. Obviously, in my case, I thought that the quarrelsome was Miguel…me too though. Somehow, we blamed each other. I felt like a bird on the top of the house whose wings were soaked and unable to soar. What neither of us realized is that we were both on the rooftop, and that the next couple of days a storm was about to crash on our lives.
The bad thing about being on the rooftop is that there is a lack of warmth, and one is exposed to the ever changing weather patterns that are bound to effect where protection is lacking. The good thing about being on the rooftop is that one gets a clear view of what’s going on outside of the four walls of our daily life. It is a place where one may question what is truly important. It is a place where one values the gift of family, of a home, of unity, and of not being alone. It is a place of decision-making: the roof or the room. It is a place where one’s pride must die, and come down to knock on the door with forgiveness and humbleness in one’s hands to continue in covenant with the one you decide to form a lifelong relationship. It is inside the covering of God that one has protection.
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