Weakness
Posted by preachgospelblog.com | Filed under Illustrations of Bible Truths
1. Lost Temper
An aged man went to his physician for an examination. The physician expressed astonishment at his robust vigor in spite of his advanced years. The man explained that he had been compelled to live an out-of-doors life. He then went on to say that when he and his wife were married, they made a compact. When he lost his temper, she was to keep silent. When she lost her temper, he was to go out of doors! This is still better advice: “Enter your closet and seek the Lord in prayer.”
2. Wrath Yields to Mercy
The pastor of a large city church was walking down the street one day with set lips and a steely look in his eye. A parishioner greeted him with the question, “How are you today, Pastor?” He waked as from a dream and said, “I am mad!” It was an unusual word for this mild-mannered Christian, but he went on to explain with deep emotion: “I found a widow standing by her goods thrown into the street. She could not pay the month’s rent. The landlord turned her out; one of her children is going to die; and that man is a member of the church! I told her to take her things back again. I am on my way to see him now!” Wrath against injustice, hypocrisy, and greed can be found throughout Scripture. But if we are to be guided by the Word of God, our wrath must always yield to mercy when the repentant sinner turns to ask forgiveness.
3. Always an Excuse
Some Christians have the same idea about the commandments of God as a little boy who was playing with his sister. A most unpleasant woman who lived near by had been finding fault with them, and the boy said, “I just hate her!” His little sister, greatly shocked, said, “Oh no! The Bible says we must love everyone.” “Oh, well,” he remarked, “old Mrs. Blank wasn’t born when that was written.” In the same way the disobedient Christian always finds an excuse.
4. Stop Shouting
A mother had fallen into the disagreeable habit of yelling at her children. She thought this necessary in order to maintain her authority; then she was confined to bed for a week with severe laryngitis. She could not speak above a whisper and had to run the affairs of her household from her bed. “Do you know,” she confessed afterward, “I found that the children were far more well-behaved and good-natured when I could only speak to them in a whisper than when I used to shout at them.”
5. Disturbances Within
Astronomers once blamed the inaccuracy of the images viewed in their telescopes on atmospheric disturbances. Later investigation revealed that a good deal of the disturbance of telescopic images arises from currents within the telescope itself. But though we cannot altogether eliminate the conditioning of outside influences in our quest for truth, we must attempt to free ourselves as much as possible from the disturbing currents within-the moods, tempers, sympathies, and fears that falsely bias the soul.
Leave a Reply
