In Jesus’ famous “sermon on the mount,” the Master said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,…” (Matt. 7:1, 2). A friend from out-of-state had recently divorced and joined a support group for men. Though he feels acceptance within the group, he told me how uncomfortable he feels walking into the larger church gathering—as if people know the circumstances, and are looking down at him in judgment. He bristled and said, “They don’t have all the information. They are judging me solely based on the one thing they think they know, but have no idea how many years I’ve worked to reform, or how much I’ve changed over the years.”
I gently reminded him that before his current experience with being judged, he probably judged others in much the same way. He confessed that this was true.
My friend was also upset with God because He was being slow in revealing what comes next for him. He can’t see the future and is grieving the past. I told him that just like you can’t judge others because you don’t have enough information, you can’t judge God or his plans for the same reason. All you have is the present moment to go on and that’s not enough information for you to make a judgment.
In Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God knows the end from the beginning. He knows the way that we take and will guide us toward a sure future if we acknowledge Him in all our ways. It’s not necessary that we know the next step. It’s only necessary that we know that God knows, and remain committed to following Him.
