Jesus looked intently at His disciples and said, “Humanly speaking it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Early in my Christian life, I stopped asking God in my prayers, “Can I?” Like Paul, I found that “I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) The real question then has become, “Should I?” I ask that question almost every prayer I pray.
Earlier in the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul writes, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” But there are times when even those positive thoughts should not be acted upon. Have you ever known someone who loves to beat people over the head with the truth? There is nothing good, encouraging or uplifting about what they are doing because of the way they present the truth. They SHOULD remain silent rather than make the person feel even worse. I have mentioned before that Job’s friends were right when they sat with him silently in his grief for days. But when they opened their mouths, they began to accuse him of doing something to cause God to be angry, making things worse for Job instead of comforting him.
I scroll through my time line on Face Book every day. I react positively to posts that are encouraging, uplifting or simply make me laugh. When I come across a lie or half truth in a post I know I can comment with the truth, but I ask God through His Holy Spirit if I should comment. Sometimes He tells me to scroll on past it without reacting and other times He instructs me to respectfully state my personal knowledge of the truth, without argument or attack. I don’t always get a response to my comment, but since I have been asking, “Should I?” I have not been unfriended a single time and I have 270 friends many of them with different religious beliefs and political opinions from mine. I keep them as friends because there are always some things we have in common and I want to keep the line of communication open with them when the Holy Spirit lets me know they might be ready to receive the truth.
My brother or sister, you can help others through Christ who gives you the strength, but always ask Him, “Should I?” As with every prayer, He will answer with yes, no or not now.