From the email newsletter Today God is First … “Have you ever been wrongfully accused? Oh, the need to defend and justify becomes so great. "What will people think if they believe these things are true?" we reason. Imagine what Jesus thought as they hurled insults and threats upon Him. The God of the universe had visited planet earth only to be slandered and accused of blasphemy.
Jesus could have done two things in response. He could have used His power to put the people in their place. He could have responded "horizontally." He could have fixed the problem right then. However, He chose to respond in a different way. He chose to "entrust Himself to Him who judges justly."
Ask God to give you the grace to stay vertical with Him. Avoid the temptation of responding horizontally each time some event comes into your life that you want to "fix." Entrust yourself to the one who judges justly. It may be a divine appointment for your growth to another level in grace.”
I am struck by this idea … being and experiencing more vertical than horizontal. It’s such a simple metaphor for how to think more about God and grace, rather than any human slight.
I think about my work day and the meetings I’m so often in, meetings where there is an issue that must be dealt with or fixed. There are ample reasons to fix “it” but often too there is blame associated with “it” … and yes, these secular matters do need to be addressed in order to create success, consistency, understanding and action.
But then I think about the smaller slights we face day to day … we may too often respond horizontally, with anger or despair, with harsh words or the silent treatment, with a hard thought that makes us more upset. What if we looked at issues vertically? We would be much more likely to change our perspective and that is true grace. I pray that I make this more a part of me … because we can grow stronger vertically, and should.
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