The Experiment

So, over the past several days, I’ve been conducting an experiment.  Coincidentally, this correlates with my first week of teaching science for my student teaching internship…but that’s beside the point! 

Anyway, back to the experiment!  I was mowing the grass in my backyard one afternoon (a chore during which I find myself having most of my epiphanies) when I had a negative thought about someone.  Now, from our human perspective, this negative thought was probably perfectly justified and maybe even encouraged, but, as I was exerting my upper body strength, pushing the loud, black machine around the yard, I suddenly felt a thought-jolt.  What is a thought-jolt you ask?  Well, you’ve likely experienced one at some point…I just decided to name it!  A thought-jolt is when a thought quite rapidly enters your head and the effect of it seems to travel all the way down to your toes!  Now, I am 100% convinced that this particular thought-jolt came directly from God because, as I was busy silently stewing over that person, I heard a voice in my brain that simply said just pray for them. 

Oh, I certainly was not a fan of that idea!  But I can’t!  I soundlessly screamed back to that voice.  I fought if for a while, but deep down, I knew that it was what I should do.  So, I swallowed my pride, anger, and irritation and forced myself to pray something that sounded like this:  God, you know how difficult this is for me, and how much I do not want to pray for this person, but I know that, no matter what they have done, you love them and so I must love them.  The prayer went on for a little bit longer, but I think you get the gist! 

And so here is the experiment, every time I have a negative thought toward someone, I pray for them instead.  This can be incredibly difficult, particularly if the person has significantly hurt me, but even more so if it is someone who has caused pain for someone I care about.  It can even pose a challenge when someone just does a small thing to bother you during the day!  The trick?  I am very honest with God when I pray.  If I need to, I tell Him how hard it is for me, but I continue to pray anyway. 

Even though I have only been practicing this habit for the past five days, it is crazy how much my attitude has started to shift….in a good way!

So, I challenge anyone who reads this to try this experiment…you won’t regret it!