Each of us have our simple pleasures from time to time. It may be stopping for an ice cream cone on a hot summer's day, or it could be shopping the clearance areas at Target. Mine is a tiny indulgence that leaves me almost euphoric. You see, about once a month I buy a Woman's World Magazine. It is, to me, the best 1.79 escape around. It is better than chocolate and pony rides because, after everyone has been cared for, I can retreat to my room and open the pages of this magazine and find a myriad of facts on various topics that were never before known to most of mankind! Honestly, I have gained some great tips. There have been articles on gardening, and cooking. I learned a new way to clean my jewelry, I have laughed at many a comic strip, and I have found new beauty and health products that are most helpful. Sure I have tried somethings and found them less than amazing, but on the whole I usually like what I try. That is why I was amazed when I tried "Boosting your health with oil" and had such a disappointment!
The article I had read days earlier was talking about how other cooking oils may increase certain functions of the body. They had several cooking oils listed. Flax-seed oil was to help with brain function, krill oil was said to fight off fatigue, and many others gave way to possible solutions for various issues. However, it was the coconut oil that caught my eye. You see, a little over a year ago I had half of my thyroid removed. They had to take out a lump. The article stated that coconut oil would increase one's liver and thyroid function. I thought anything that increases what I now only have half of was defiantly worth a try. So, off I went to my supermarket I was overjoyed when I found the jar of 100% pure organic coconut oil. There in that jar was my thyroid's organic answer to health. Honestly, I was just hoping for a boost or mild difference.
Upon arriving at home, I started cooking dinner. I opened the jar and although the article said to use two tablespoons, I thought it best to start with only one. I was going to use it on my salad. But what was this?! Upon opening the jar I discovered it wasn't liquid but solid. Oh coconut oil how delicious you looked! You were white and creamy looking. I love your fruit (which you came from) and have never once regretted taking a bite from any form of the coconut... big mistake! So I looked at that tsp (which I should have melted and made into a vinaigrette). The article said it was orderless (sniff-sniff) they were correct. The article said it was also flavorless, but even if it wasn't perhaps a hint of that sweet coconut would glide down my throat and I alone would have discovered a new way to ingest such a health yielding oil! I took that spoon and swallowed the generous tsp of oil. Now... please excuse me as I pause, because the thought of that horrible decision still shutters through my memory! It turns out that Woman's World Magazine is WRONG! The oil is not tasteless! In fact, if swallowed in the manner in which I took it, it tastes like lard. Then, it slowly moves down, and I don't know if a heart attack has a flavor but I imagine it was something like what I was experiencing. The lard, formerly known as oil, just sat hovering around the middle of my chest for what seemed forever. All I could think was what had I just done?
Do you ever do this? Maybe you read half the instructions of a toy you have to put together and just wing the rest. Perhaps you get the basic idea of a road map and trust your "spider senses" to lead you to the final destination. Sometimes it works out ok. Sometimes we have five extra bolts and we aren't sure where they go. As a pastor's wife, I have learned that over the years sometimes friends and church members come to you seeking advice, and after they pour out their heart they wait for your response. They are seeking a reaction that either affirms what they have done or what they should do next. What I am about to share has only taken me 43 years to get right... most of the time. When asked to give my opinion / advice I try really hard to live under two main principles. The first principle is that the Bible is never wrong and the second is that I am not the Holy Spirit.
It seems like an easy statement, "The Bible is always right." Ah, but you see the right thing is not always the easiest thing to hear or say. My husband has a funny thing he says. He says, "If sinning wasn't fun, people wouldn't do it." When folks come asking advice sometimes what they really want is for you to give the nod that what they are doing or about to do is ok by God. Over the years many folks I deeply care about have come and laid out some truly heart wrenching situations. Sometimes the hardest thing I can do is fully share what the Bible says about that situation. I have to be very careful to never say I know the Bible says... B-U-T! God never gives us anymore than we can handle. I had a friend who made some really poor life choices. She left her husband and lived with a man. Before she left her husband she took tens of thousands of dollars with her. The man she lived with told her to put it in his account because her husband couldn't get to it there. She called me months later with a broken heart. She knew she had made horrible choices and wanted to get out. The man was using the money as a leverage to keep her there, and it was growing violent. She really needed that money because she had no other income. She asked me if should she stay just one more week end and try to get the money. Now, to say no to this plan meant she stood a good chance of never seeing the money again. To say yes meant she might have a good six months of income security... she could also be harmed. Her question to me was what is the greater risk; leaving or staying a few more days. I took a deep breath and asked her, " 'Sally', you have to ask yourself what do you trust more... the money you might not get (which was thousands of dollars), or the God who loves you now?" To my great surprise she left him that night, and never saw any of that money. While it was tough, God provided cars for her to drive, a job, and a place to stay. She never looked back and is so glad today of the choice she made.
My truth is that I don't always like standing by what God's word says. I say that because I am imperfect, I do not see how it will all work out, and my own past may skew my perceptions. But you see that is exactly why we must speak God's Word and not personally into others. Ecclesiastes states that there is nothing new under the sun. There is no special new circumstance that allows us to ignore what God has told us to do. The Bible is a How To book. It is also an I didn't... I did but found forgiveness... God saved me from.. and God led me to book. Mainly, it is holy, and the Holy Spirit is waiting to lead through God's Word.
I am not the Holy Spirit, but I have the Holy Spirit. I have him interceding in my prayers to God. I have him whispering thoughts that I could never fathom on my own. When someone asks you for advice, it is the Holy Spirit you want on your side. Sometimes I joke and say, "Look, I am not the Holy Spirit, but..." I then share what the Bible says about the matter. Sometimes I don't know the answer. So I help them find it or I pray God will show them the answer, and give them a peace through the process.
The Bible says that Christians are ambassadors. We are ambassadors in both the easier and the harder moments of folks lives (that includes our own). I have learned that I would much rather have someone mad at me because of what God's word says than six months later angry at me because I ignored God and they did too. What about you? How do give advice and what is the best advice you ever gave? Should you give advice at all?
John 7:24 "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." NIV
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