Somebody's Watchin' Me

You’re stopped at a traffic light looking straight ahead and you’re thinking about the long list of  things you have to do when you get to work or home or school.  Out of the left corner of your eye, you sense an intense stare in your direction.  You turn your head to the left quickly  and suddenly you are eye to eye with the stranger in the car next to you.  They quickly turn away, the light turns green, and you both speed away.  But, you immediately scroll through what you were doing to cause this stranger to stare at you.  Were you singing like you were auditioning for American Idol, did you cut them off a few miles back, or the dreaded thought… did you pick your nose and not realize it? Why were they watchin’ you?

The truth is, as a child of God someone is always watchin’ us.   As Christians, we preach patience, kindness, strong faith, love, etc., but do we always practice what we preach?  To illustrate this, let me tell you the story of a young father named Lance.  Lance was a deacon and Bible class teacher and often spoke of his faith in God to his coworkers.  However, Lance received the very un-welcomed news one day that he had a rare cancer.   As a young husband & father of small children, this news shook Lance’s world and threw Lance into a world of worry and despair.  The faith he often declared was all of a sudden non existent.   Several weeks into his cancer diagnosis, a good friend and co-worker who was known for his blunt honesty walked up to Lance and said something that put a dagger in Lance’s heart.  He said, “Lance, it surprises me that a person who has a faith in God as you do would worry so much about this.  I would have thought you would trust God a little more and worry a little less.”    The friend walked away and Lance sat in his office realizing the contradiction he had been living.  He had been saying the right words for years, but He wasn’t practicing what he preached.  He had no idea that someone was watching how he would react to this bad news.  He was disappointed in himself, but he also knew it was NOT too late to make a change and live the life he professed.

You may not realize it, but someone is always watching you.  It may be a co-worker, a spouse, a friend, a child, or someone you don’t even know.  But, how we handle bad situations as Christians has a huge impact on how others view Christianity and God.  The old saying is so true that people would rather see a lesson lived than hear one preached.  No matter the situation you are currently facing, remember that as a Christian, the world is your audience and you are on stage and  somebody’s watchin’ ….. what will they see in you? Matthew 5:16  “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.