Friday Prayer for When People Bug You

1 Corinthians 4-12 (1)So we did a little crabbing on the Fourth of July.

The little guy in this pic was too small to keep, but that didn’t stop Khaki from wanting some quality play time before we threw his new buddy back in the Bay. The two of ’em went at it for about a dozen rounds before they both got tuckered out.

I suspect that Khaki thought it was all in good fun, but if I had to guess I’d say that his crustacean pal felt a little persecuted.  Cursed, even.

But he took it like a champ.

Which made me think of how we react when people push our hot buttons.  Most of us aren’t facing anything close to real persecution, but we all have people who bug us.  Who pick on us.  Say mean things about us, even.

People who (a-hem) can make us kind of crabby.

The good news is that God has a plan for that.  The Bible has all sorts of verses about how his children should respond to insults, bullies, and undeserved attacks.  Something in the crab’s demeanor (okay, so that’s a stretch – but he did have remarkable endurance) made me think of 1 Corinthians 4:12.  Here it is, in the form of a prayer:

Heavenly Father, 

When I am cursed, help me bless those who are cursing me.  When I am persecuted, give me the strength to endure.  And when I am slandered, show me how to answer kindly.  (1 Corinthians 4:12)

Amen.

P.S.  Lest you think I am running some sort of violent canine-and-crab ring, let me assure you that 1., No animals were harmed in the making of this post (except I guess the big crabs, which we did eat) and 2., The dog-and-crab show was not my fault.  More and more criminals are implicating themselves through selfies these days, and Robbie is no exception:

IMG_9728

 

 

 

Leave a Reply