Stumble

isn’t it funny how we can just ‘stumble’ upon things now in this information age? for example, thanks to clustrmaps and sitemeter, i know that my blog has been visited 7,931 times in the past year and has 14,490 page views…i can only assume that a few of those are thanks to people ‘stumbling’ upon it (thanks google). how else would it explain hits from such countries as: serbia, ecuador, and the united republic of tanzania? i mean, the united states, canada, the united kingdom, even australia i could see, but the falkland islands, really? i don't even know where that is!
regardless, that's a lot of people reading (or at least glancing as they quickly click out) the words that i have written. i better make sure my words don't cause me to stumble in the process...that's a lot of people who could get a bad first (and perhaps only) impression of who i am.

that being said, how often do we 'stumble' upon people in our lives who give us a wrong impression? how often are we the ones caught in the middle of a stumble, causing others to perhaps judge us prematurely? how many times can you stumble before that trait becomes who you are?

i think back to a story i heard a couple years ago by a man named mike, a great man after God's heart. he was telling a group of us one day about a time he fell short...and the simple recollection of that instance all this time later brought this man to tears. his story was taken in as an everyday occurence by some, but i'd like to think that his words had a great impact on me (it must of if i'm still recalling it). see, he had a short lapse in judgement, a momentary glitch in his love and grace meter while being frustrated in traffic...and he allowed those frustrations to get the best of him. he yelled from the safety of his air conditioned car and motioned at the driver who had just cut him off, and he told us that at that moment he knew that he could no longer share the Gospel with this individual...he had blown any chance he may have had.

now, of course that is only some what true. i mean sure, he could have followed the man home (hoping not to appear like a stalker and have the cops called on him, of course), and explain that he had messed up, that he was sorry for his anger, etc. and through that action shared the love of Jesus, but i think you understand what i'm trying to say. the point is, sometimes we don't get a second chance, we don't get a redo...when we stumble, people see. of course, we all do it. (i do it all the time...which my wife can most certainly attest to.)

here's where i'm going with this: are you aware of your stumbles, even before they happen? are you stumbling without remorse? are you seeking accountability for the things that you fall over time and time again? are you truly aware of what's at stake?


"selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."
-oscar wilde