SNEAKY JUDGMENT
                                                       T. Wieland Allen
   Judgment sneaks into our minds silently like the snake that it is.  Once, it had silently and slowly invaded my mind, hidden from my realization, for almost a year.  It involved something that was none of my business.  Things that we judge are rarely any of our business.  We disapprove of someone's actions, beliefs, customs, looks, etc. and we form a judgment over something that should not even concern us; that is, should not be any of our business if we are God's kids.
    The situation was a normal situation that goes on in the lives of everyone.  No wonder when Jesus taught His followers His ways He taught so much about forgiving our neighbors, doing good to our neighbors and loving our neighbors.  Sometimes it's our neighbors that give us the most trouble.  Courts are full of disputes between neighbors.  Sometimes they even escalate into fights and killings.  Thank God, the unjust judgment that I made against a neighbor did not result in anything other than robbing me and me alone.  However, God loves me so much that he alerted me to the problem within me before I really became either mentally or physically sick.  The judgment only caused me distress and anguish over something that was none of my business.
    The problem was that a man had bought a deserted house, one that had been glorious in its prime and for years afterward.  The original owners had died and you know how that plays out sometimes, the children of the owners had not seen that the property was sufficiently maintained.  The sale price was too high for the area but eventually it was lowered enough that a buyer was found for it.  The buyer was a doctor who was building a clinic at the time and his time was spent on the problems that present themselves when building a huge building.  As he gave more time to the building of the clinic, the residential property that he had bought lay in disrepair.  After the completion of the clinic, the doctor gave some time to the house he had purchased.  He hired a few men to cut down trees, dispose of them, and clear the area around the house.
    The problem was that the men dumped all of the dead trees, the dead limbs and stumps onto the corner of the property, far from the house.  Unfortunately, that corner is visible from the street where I live. Also, throughout the year, grass grew up several feet high and some of the chain link fence fell, parts of it detached from the posts. 
    Our neighborhood is an old neighborhood and our neighborhood association has worked hours and hours making sure the area stays manicured and presentable to visitors and potential buyers to the area.  We got busy and hired a person to fix the chain link fence, asking the doctor to please share with us in the expense, which he was graciously willing to do. But, there was still the problem of the dump ground in the corner of his property which is visible from the street.
    I am very motivated and goal oriented.  Okay, to be truthful, I am too motivated and goal oriented sometimes.  I knew the situation with the doctor and didn't want to add to his burdens, so I decided that I would find a way to screen from view the area of concern with its dead trees, branches, stumps and tall grass. I tried several things which did not work.  Slowly, thoughts crept into my mind of disappointment at the doctor for not having the large area of concern hauled off and the grass mowed.  Like the snake that it is, concern turned into judgment of the doctor who probably doesn't even know what that corner looks like.
    I thought I had found the perfect solution. I was going to purchase three sections of six feet high, eight feet long wooden fencing and have someone attach them to certain parts of his chain link fence at intervals.  It would not cost much, and I decided that I would pay part of the cost and ask the neighborhood association to pay the rest of the cost.  My attitudes of concern, as I gave too much thought to the horrible looking corner, grew into an attitude of judgment toward the owner of the property.  I was oblivious to the slow and sneaky growth of the snake of judgment.
     One day, a friend told me a testimony of how she had gotten too involved in something that totally consumed her time.  She lost her sense of peace and her loving attitude toward everyone.  She became consumed with her new responsibilities and soon became burdened with them.  She told me that a song came into her mind that started, "Don't sell you saddle, cause life is a long, long ride."  Through that song she knew that God was telling her that she had allowed the added responsibilities to rob her of her peace, which affected her love toward others.  In other words, she had sold her peace, and in giving up her peace she was deplete of emotional power to endure something that might happen in the future.  She began an exit move from some of her responsibilities in order to regain the peace that comes from being in unity with God.  I thought that was a fabulous testimony and even taught about it at a Bible study.  It was filled with wisdom.  I had no realization at the time that I had lost my peace to the spirit of judgment of the doctor who owned the property. 
    When I was driving home from that meeting, I passed the fence.  Instead of looking into the chain link fence and seeing the ugly sight, I heard God tell me in my mind not to look at that area behind the fence but, instead, to look at my own beautiful yard which is visible across the street.  In doing that, I didn't have the same thought pattern of judgment and thoughts of wondering how long I would have to endure seeing that messy sight.  Refusing to look at his yard was an easy cure for me.  It was an easy way to stop the judgmental thoughts I had for the doctor. 
     God showed me that I had allowed that yard to rob me of peace.  He impressed upon me that that particular yard is none of my business.  He told me to pray for the doctor and that that yard would miraculously be manicured soon.  In other words, God wanted me to stop handling the situation and allow Him to handle it.  He told me that somewhere down the line I would need the peace that I had lost.  In fact, he reminded me that that same scenario had happened to another house which had been a matter of concern.  Instead of complaining to the owner, we had prayed and one day there it was, cleaned up neat and tidy.
     The way we "sell our saddles," or lose our peace, is by assuming responsibilities that should be none of our concern. As a result of God counseling me on that troublesome matter, His ways took all of the burden off of my back.  I can look at the owner with new forgiveness.  After all, he still probably doesn't even know that that area of his yard is so unsightly.  I could feel the difference in my mind after I followed the thoughts that God put in there of not looking on the debris, but instead to look at my own beautiful yard. 
     I am determined to remember this lesson and that I will not allow myself to be robbed of peace again, because I will certainly need it somewhere down the line; like tomorrow probably, the way things happen in the world. 
     God's peace is too precious to lose and too valuable to allow ourselves to be  robbed of it.
     Keep on the lookout for when problems invade your peaceful thoughts.  Kick them out quickly and ride God's saddle of peace into the future.  There's an absolute guarantee that you'll need it.