Here comes the Judge….

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

I had an interesting thought the other day regarding “judgement”.  But first, I need to give you a little background so that this thought I am about to share will make sense.

Since Tom and I have been working here at the B&B the “gratuity” topic has come up several times. The first few years about 80 percent of the people did not tip so we really didn’t expect it and were really thankful when they did. To be honest, I wouldn’t have known to tip either if I had gone to a B&B before working at one! So, after some discussion, research, and deliberating back and forth, last year Beth (the owner of the Inn) decided to put some envelopes in the rooms to let the guests know it was an option for them to leave a gratuity as a way to “thank” us for our care and service to them. The first month we put the envelopes out was AMAZING!! Almost EVERYONE tipped and we were blown away by their generosity. It was so interesting how our expectations changed with those envelopes being in the rooms!! I am embarrassed to admit, we started looking to the guests more and more, expecting our provision to come from their tips instead of from God. (Oh how quickly and easily I get pulled away! :P )

Then something interesting happened. The second month it went right back to the way it was before we put the envelopes out! How crazy is that? I can see God saying “watch this”, knowing exactly what would happen. LOL. We had the envelopes sitting on the desks in each of the rooms, in plain sight, but one of the guests said she didn’t see it until she was leaving.  She was very embarrassed and apologetic because she didn’t have much cash for a tip and suggested that we put the envelopes in a more obvious place. So, we attached the envelopes to the room packet and, like the first month, the tips were great again. But then, like before, the next month it went right back to the usual less than desired response. Was this weird or was it God trying to get our attention?

So anyway, Tom and I were talking one day about how interesting it is that we can spend a lot of time with some people and they don’t leave us a tip (even when we know they can see the envelope now) and others you hardly spend any time with at all and they are super generous. And OH! How easy it is to start grumbling and casting judgment on the people who don’t tip… :P So, as I was thinking about that I remembered when I was waiting tables back in the day. I didn’t really get all steamed up about it because I knew it always worked out in the end. You get people who don’t tip when you work hard for them and then you get people who are super generous when you have done very little. I always said, “It all comes out in the wash” and just didn’t let it bother me.

Since Tom and I have been on this “crazy” journey the last 8 years, God has been teaching us that HE is in control of ALL things. He is the orchestrator of every event and circumstance in our lives and there are NO accidents and NO mistakes and He has proven himself an amazing provider over and over again. We have NEVER been without and have ALWAYS had everything we needed, even in the “lean” years, we were well taken care of. This experience has just made God SO much bigger in my eyes! (But obviously I still have more work to do in this area :))

So with that said, let me come back to my interesting thought I mentioned at the beginning. Taking into consideration the gratuity scenario, if we believe there are NO accidents and NO mistakes, and GOD is our provider, then we really shouldn’t be grumbling/blaming/judging people who don’t tip, right?! Because ultimately it is GOD, who is our provider, and GOD who lays on their heart to tip or not! If we don’t get a tip, it has NOTHING to do with the “person”, their character, generosity, kindness or anything like that, but instead it is ALL about God and the fact that we must not need it because He didn’t provide it! And then I thought, (here it comes) if God is in control of all these things, then when we judge people, ultimately, it isn’t them we are judging but GOD! DOH! Did you catch that??! Again, if we truly believe that God is in control of all things, then our judgment ultimately lands on HIM! That certainly was a forehead slap to me!! It is SO easy to get all caught up in “looking to people”, or ourselves, and getting angry or frustrated and placing judgment on them when instead it is GOD who is responsible for all these things! So, the scripture on judgment; “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2) came to mind and, after this new revelation, I saw it in a whole new light and it seemed to make more sense in the light of us ultimately judging GOD!

So, think about it, this applies to so many other things! When we judge other drivers on the road, circumstances we don’t like or that are painful, anyone who irritates or annoys us… ALL of these judgments land on God. Wow. That is truly something I need to keep in mind. And instead of getting angry or frustrated with those around me, I need to instead, look to God and ask Him, what do I need to learn from this!? Why is this making me angry or frustrated? Definitely food for thought!

Lord, thank you so much for this insight on judgment!! I will be much more mindful now of how and what I think about people.  And I will do my best to be more compassionate and loving because ultimately it is YOU who I am casting judgement on, since you are in charge of all things that come into my life! I know you are good and I thank you for caring for every little detail, the ones I am aware of and especially the ones I am not. I am handing over my judge’s robe and gavel to You Lord. With all my heart, Linda :)