Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
March 27, 2012

“Fending Off Attacks!” (Blame)
“Above all else, guard your heart….it is the wellspring of life.” – Proverbs 4:23

Sometimes when in the midst of crisis we tend to have our vision clouded under pressure. A man who was critically ill in a hospital bed had his wife at his side. He looks up from his bed and says to her. "You've always been with me when I have had trouble. When I lost my shirt in a poor investment, you were there. When I had the car accident, you were with me. When I got fired, you were there. I've come to the conclusion that you're bad luck!"
It is always easy to blame others for things for which we might take responsibility. It takes a person of character to assume his share of blame—especially when it is our burden to bear. Tell me if this sounds vaguely familiar: “It’s not my fault!” “She made me do it.” “He made me do it.” “The devil made me do it!” “I was born like this.” “It’s my parent’s fault.” “It’s the government’s fault.” “Somebody should do something about this!” Okay, I am sure you get the point.
When Adam was caught with the “fruit in his mouth,” his first response was to blame the woman who in turn blamed the serpent—who had no one else to blame but he did not care—he accomplished what he sought to do and that was to destroy the relationship between God and His children. He is still attempting to do the same today…and one of those ways it through blame.
The reason why blame is a “Passion Thief” is simple—it says we are not responsible for our actions and what that does is not give God the opportunity to work within our lives. If God is not allowed to work in our lives can we say we have a relationship with Him?
Several years ago I came across a great illustration that puts this into perspective. It is called “An Autobiography in Five Chapters.” It goes like this:

Chapter 1:
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost…I am helpless. It wasn’t my fault you know. I did not know the hole was even here. It is dark and it takes a long time to find a way out.
Chapter 2:
I walk down the same street. There is still a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend that I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place, but it still isn’t my fault. My friends should have told me that the hole was not fixed. It takes even longer than before to get out.
Chapter 3:
I walk down the same street. There is still a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there, but I still fall in. I am beginning to think there is more to this…I’ve made it a habit. My eyes are beginning to open. I know where I am and how I got here. I realize that it was probably my fault this time. I am able to get out much faster this time.
Chapter 4:
I walk down the same street. There’s that nasty hole still in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
Chapter 5:
I walk down a different street.

What this illustration points out is the longer we do not accept responsibility the longer we live in “darkness.” We will continue to walk down the same street—repeating the same problem. But when we say to both ourselves, and to God, “I blew it!” then perhaps the hole won’t seem so deep and our problems so dark and our passions not taken from us.
Okay…I have to do this. There was a song that came out a few years ago called, “Get Over It,” by the Eagles. And even though I am sure they did not intend this song to have spiritual or biblical implications it speaks volumes. Here are a couple of the lines:
I turn on the tube and what do I see, A whole lotta people cryin’ ’don’t blame me’ They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else
Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves Victim of this, victim of that—Your momma’s too thin and your daddy’s too fat Get over it! Get over it! All this whinin’ and cryin’ and pitchin’ a fit Get over it, get over it
You say you haven’t been the same since you had your little crash But you might feel better if I gave you some cash You don’t want to work, you want to live like a king But the big, bad world doesn’t owe you a thing
Get over it! Get over it! If you don’t want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, get over it!
Guard against blame. Guard against removing responsibility—it prevents God from drawing us closer to Him.
Pastor J. T. Carnell