Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something – Emmanuella Ellis
“On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth …” Obadiah 1: 11 NASB
Mum walked into the room to find Anna cleaning up the glass of milk she spilled. Before she understood what had happened, I made it clear I had nothing to do with it. My joy in watching Anna struggle to clean up the mess was completely quenched when I was asked to do the chores for a week because I didn’t help.
It is difficult to understand why someone might get punished for doing nothing when someone else has the problem. Obadiah’s vision is centered on Edom’s punishment for doing nothing to help his brother Israel during their misfortune. Surely, they shouldn’t be punished when they had no hand in their misfortune, but not from God’s perspective. Standing aloof without offering assistance when others go through hard times, is never how God wants us to respond.
As children of God, we do not need to fear punishment like they did under the Old Covenant since Jesus took our punishment in full. But there is no doubt; God wants us to be keen on causing no harm to other people. He desires that we walk in love in all situations, not rejoicing when others suffer, even if they have hurt us. We need to be conscious of our reactions to the difficulties of others, taking the necessary steps to help. Boasting about how great our lives are, only inflicts more pain and shouldn’t be an option either. We need to let our actions and reactions be guided by the mercy, grace, compassion, and love of Christ. Jesus is our example in all situations.
Emmanuella has the desire to reach out to others using the understanding gained through the scriptures as a tool. Contact | 
