Growing on a hill on the property I
was managing for a Fortune 500 company was a patch of wildflowers of
black-eyed Susans. While walking the complex I got this bright idea of giving
the ladies in the office each a bouquet of wildflowers. They were ecstatic and
commented “how sweet, thank you” or “they’re lovely, thank you!” Feeling pretty good
about this simple gesture of appreciation, I went about my business.
After a couple of minutes, the cool,
calm, and collective environment of the office broke into shrieks and high-pitched shrills! Someone cried out, “There are grasshoppers in the flowers!” This
was an understatement; pandemonium ensued. The women were panicking over the “bugs,” and
the men were laughing over the overreaction to the harmless grasshoppers. The
grasshoppers didn’t care for any of it and were shooting out of the flowers
like popcorn. Apparently, there were a lot of tiny green baby grasshoppers camouflaged
among the greenery and hanging on for dear life until the flowers made their
way into a container of water.
We had to ditch the flowers
immediately, and I dispatched a male posse to chase down the jumpers. My good
intentions turned into an unexpected result. I was embarrassed, but I had to
laugh for introducing a plague of grasshoppers into the office environment.
Fortunately for me, the thoughtfulness outweighed the flower fiasco.
Whenever our good intentions backfire, there is a tendency to be reluctant in the future in expressing
our good intentions in an area of life for fear of being misunderstood, or it turning
into an expectation, but Jesus was never hesitant in doing good, for He knew the results beforehand; we
do not have that luxury. Paul gave instructions to the church at Ephesus to “be
kind to one another” or keep on becoming kind toward one another patterned
after God’s kindness in Christ to us (Eph 4:32). This is in contrast to those
negative behaviors manifesting among the believers of Ephesus (Eph 4:31).
This kindness is an adverse reaction to
our fleshly nature because it is sourced in the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and manifested
when we walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16). This is key to understanding unintended results or grasshoppers hidden from sight. Whenever supernatural
kindness is expressed, the Holy Spirit is in control. He knows exactly the
reaction to our kindness. We simply have to trust in the guidance of the Holy
Spirit in the kindness of our good intentions, if we are truly being led by the Spirit,
and not worry about the unintended results.
There are no conditions or
disqualifiers to kindness because it is in the imperative mode or commanded: “(you)
be kind.” The tense of the verb indicates being useful toward others continually
with grace, goodness, gentleness, and kindness of the heart toward one another.
Being gracious or a simple act of
kindness can make all the difference to a hurting soul, with or without Christ,
needing encouragement in a world replete with unkindness and ill-intent. We
will never know this side of eternity the fruit of our kindness to others. Often
our overtures of love toward the world, like telling the truth, produce a predictable
response to that truth. We are expected to be faithful to the truth in spite of
the outcome. The world doesn’t recognize biblical truth as love or grace but
just the opposite as something contrary to their values, and they would be
right.
What part did the Pharisees and the Sadducees
like when Jesus performed miracles on the Sabbath or on any day? None. All of
the good that Jesus did while on this earth was rejected by the nation of
Israel. Even Jesus’ greatest act of love of allowing Himself to be crucified
was only viewed as getting rid of a problem for the Sanhedrin. Jesus knew of their
reaction all along, but He was kind anyway even to the death on the cross, “Father
forgive them...” It’s better to concern
ourselves with being gracious and leave any grasshoppers to the Holy Spirit. <><
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