Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts (2 Peter 3:3)
Just because we walk in the ways of the Lord, does not mean everyone else does. And there are those, too, who will claim that they walk in his ways, yet they are so far off the path that leads to the promises that even a GPS would be continuously "recalculating"! They walk, as Peter tells us, after their own lusts. They follow their human desires and do not care what damage or hurt they cause along the way. Their capacity to see only their own pain and "poor me's" does not afford them the opportunity to even imagine the bigger picture.
The human part of me would have me say - "Good, go - be that way", but the Holy Spirit continues to remind me to pray for them. "But God, after what they've done to me, I don't want to see them in heaven, I want to see them punished" would be another natural, human response to those who have hurt us. Guess what? It isn't about us! That shed blood on Calvary was for ALL! We tend to forget sometimes that we, too, have hurt people. Maybe not intentionally - but survival instincts can, at times, cause the most damage to those around us. We do what we must to get by (or at least we did -until we came to know the Lord). Remembering that not everyone has a relationship with the Father and that they do not share the same responsibility to our brothers and sisters that we have come to know (not that they are not accountable, because they are) makes our journey frustrating, to say the least.
God understands the people we will encounter on our walk with him. He has faith in us, so why do we doubt at all that his promise will not be kept. It's a given! He will not abandon us! Rejoice! When all is said and done there will be an accounting made of all the hurts we've been dealt - but remember - we, too, will be answering for ours. And as hard as it will be to explain the "whys" of what we've done, we know that regardless, our debt has been paid and we will hear the words "well done". Not everyone has chosen to live their life in a manner compelling those words!
Pray for those whose lusts are not for God. Pray that they, too, will find the courage to ask for forgiveness and that the Holy Spirit will awaken in them the desire to walk the road that leads to glory! God wants them on that same path just as much as he wants you there!
