Dealing with criticism

So, while in Wal-mart I saw Nadia (the lady who had 8 babies) on the front cover of a ton of magizenes. Curious, I opened up and read one of the articles. By the time the article was done I was crying... so sad about what how the media was slandering her. Her situation is a hard one... I know the statistics about kids who grow up without a dad and that breaks my heart. And I dont think it is possible for one person to raise 14 kids under 10 (or however old the oldest is) on thier own. But then there is her reason for implanting all the babies... she didnt want to kill them. If that is not a  noble reason, I am not sure what is. (Though she could have placed them for adoption) But to call someone the "Mom from Hell" just strikes a chord. That is just not right. If she is a believer arnt we called to stand with her... not malign her.

Then a day or so later on the radio, Wally from total access reads this letter that someone wrote him and totally trashed the guy. I think what the guy was saying really held weight and it would have been good for Wally to listen. But instead of emailing the guy back or calling to communicate, he reads the letter on the air, stopping ever other sentence to make fun of the guy. Wow... thats harsh! 

Both of these are situations where these people are in the public eye and are getting criticized. Then I read Exodus 4 and see that this is a fear that Moses had.

Exodus 4: 1-2 "Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" Then the Lord said to him..."

I can fear the same thing sometimes... but instead of 'What if people say..." I can tend to think 'What if people think...' But the truth is, we need to trust God with peoples hearts. That He can change them. The whole next 12 or so verses give reason that we can trust that God is able to move and motivate people.

And I think the saddest part of Exo. 4 is when Moses says "Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else." After God had told him in 3:8 "So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Epyptioans and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey..." This is so sad. God says He is going to rescue these people and has offered to use him. But Moses doesnt want to have part in seeing God do the miraculous. Oh how I pray that God would keep my heart tender and pliable that I would never say No to Him.

So anyway, I guess what I am thinking about criticism is that on a mass scale, all you can do is trust God with the hearts of the people criticizing you. And obviously on a tiny scale you can communicate.