The Plank... really?

Matthew 7:1-4  1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?4 How can you say, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.

Usually when I feel upset, my first response is to call someone who will understand the situation.  I really am concerned for someone that I love and I call a mutual friend to get their take on the situation.  My flaw is easily seen in those 2 sentences.
Instead of making my first call to God in prayer, I contemplate the situation and run scenarios through my head.  I plan and scheme what I should do, then I call for a second opinion from a friend.  When I finally get around to talking with God, I get an answer that I am not always prepared for.
I appreciate this friend of mine because he speaks truth in love.  While we did rant a bit, he finally said to one of my comments: "You know that really is not any of our business."  Wow, that is true.  And, his first comments were, "I have noticed too and it bugs me, but I don't know what we should do.  All I can suggest is that we pray."  Right again!  We chatted for a while and then signed off.
I finally took the matter to the Lord.  He brought to my memory some of the answers that I recently received when inquiring about other situations recently.  On one hand, I learned that I am jealous of others.  OUCH!  I also heard that I need to take care of my own issues and He will take care of everyone else's personality issues just as He is taking care of mine.  Even as I made the recent phone call to discuss my "concern" for another, I kept hearing this song from a Bible Man DVD of my son's.  "I'm the Queen of Gossip."  I know people who are a lot worse than me in jealousy and gossiping and the other thing is that I really am concerned about my friend.
The point of this all is that I have not put my trust fully in God to handle certain situations in my life as well as those I love.  When I hung up the phone, I distinctly heard in my spirit, "why concern yourself with the speck in someone else's eye when you have a plank in your own."  You've got to be kidding me!  I surely don't have a plank in my eye, do I?  Apparently I do have a problem.  It is a trust problem.  He want's me to trust Him and I need to do just that.  There are some things that I need to just lift to Him.
I know that most of the things that I've been putting as major are just things.  Francesca Battistelli just released a new song called, "This is the stuff."  Really, this is a song that ministers to me in the midst of my stuff.  So I conclude with a portion of the lyrics.

This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world
Oh Oh Oh

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/this_is_the_stuff_lyrics_francesca_battistelli.html
All about Francesca Battistelli: http://www.musictory.com/music/Francesca+Battistelli

Missed Opportunities

I just started doing yet another time-wasting activity.  It is Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook.  Today as I was playing the Lord showed me something that I often do in life.  I miss an opportunity for the best.  There are chances for me to let the game line up 5 + gems in a row which would be a great score, but I am busy trying to hope that my little line-up will amount to something.  I arrange what I think I can, to prepare for what could be and not what will be.  Shortly, something falls down on the other side and breaks up my plan and then I see where I should have been looking in the first place.
How many times do I make plans to do my own thing in life and miss out on the plans God has for me?  I try to make something work that isn't going to work no matter what I try.  Jesus didn't even do His own thing.  He waited and watched Father and did only what He saw Father doing.  He left His place of glory to dwell among man.  While He was fully God, he was also fully man.  A paradox I will not understand in this lifetime.  He could have tried to line things up differently as he prepared to go to the cross.  He KNEW that is what had to happen for me to see Father and He chose to go through with it.  His words in the garden were, "Not my will..."  That is amazing.  He chose to endure that temporary separation from the Godhead and even cried out, "why have You forsaken me?"  The torment of his flesh at that moment caused this cry even though He knew the truth.  He was following through with the plan He and Father and Holy Spirit devised from the beginning to redeem His beloved bride.  He never missed an opportunity to do Father's will.
Father is doing much in this day and in this time.  I don't want to miss it!  I don't want to lose out on an opportunity to bring glory to His name.  I have failed time and time again to do what is right because I was trying to line the wrong sequence up.  I want to be aligned in His ways and watch to see where He is moving.  One of the hardest things for me to do is say, "I will wait for You to move."  Not just that I would say that, but truly wait on Him.

Freely Give

Matthew 10:7-8   7 "As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."  Jesus shared this with His disciples just after calling them.  So many times I have heard this in my head or somewhere in a teaching.  The part I hear is freely you have received, so freely give.  I didn't give it much more thought.  I took it for a generosity scripture.  Jesus was commissioning His disciples to go out in His name.  The context is not just in possessions, but I'm sure that is not completely wrong to think of it in that light.  The items listed in vs 8 are signs and wonders.  Tell them the Kingdom is at hand and then go out them and perform miracles.  You have received them, so give them away.  

It is His desire that we follow Him and do what He does.  He did what He saw Father doing.  These verses tell the what while the following verses tell the how.  Jesus expected His disciples to succeed and He gave them a demonstration and a few chances to get it right.

This is something I've pondered into this night.  I've made up excuses of why this doesn't pertain to me today, but they are just excuses.  Again I say, "I am Yours, God.  Do with me as you wish."