Overwhelmed!
There are days I want to curl up next to a roaring fire, and let the world go bye. Today is just such a day. I have last minute planning for the Christmas Eve service (I long for the years when all I was worried about at this time of year was buying Aunt Gracie a last-minute gift). I am in the process of getting out of debt, which means that money is more tight than usual. Relational stresses are on the rise, partly because of the time of year, and partly because Satan hates relationships.
Life is about relationships. God created the first man and woman for relationship with Him and with each other. Christ lived a life of relationships. It was not about what miracles He performed on earth, but rather for whom he did them. He described His mission by saying "I was sent to seek and save the lost." God redeems His people back into relationship. I heard a teaching once, that "all problems are problems of relationships, and all problems will be solved in the context of right relationships." I believe it. When I have more time, perhaps I'll unpack it a little more for you. But back to my first premise. Satan's first triumph (in the garden) was to create the first broken relationship, and he has been doing it ever since. Divorce, murder, revenge, hatred, bitterness, lying, drunkenness, violence: they are all simply different manifestations of broken relationship.
I bring this up because I have felt as though my relationships have been under attack. I feel like there have been words and phrases, situations and circumstances that have been designed to build walls between me and those I love. Now this in itself is no problem, and is honestly to be expected. If we are walking toward righteousness in God, we will be attacked, and relationships are a key place that Satan will attack us. What is difficult is when the words and circumstances come from trusted people.
I believe that God makes a practice of speaking to us through those around us, and so, when those closest to us speak, it would be foolishness to ignore it. But what do you do when those closest to you are saying the exact opposite of what you firmly believe is true? I believe that counsel is important, but that it is not all-important. Look at Job. His three closest friends, even his wife counseled him saying "God is angry with you, just curse God and die." Job ignored their counsel and was finally blessed greater than he had been before. In Acts several people advised Paul to avoid Jerusalem; it was their own selfishness that did this. I don't blame them, they did not want to lose the great teacher they had in Paul. But through Jerusalem, Paul went to Rome and preached the good news to Caesar himself. So how do you know when to listen to counsel and when to dismiss it?
In the coming days I need wisdom. Those of you who read this page, even those of you who do not like me, I need your prayers that I would discern what the perfect will of God is. That I will know which counsel to heed, and which to ignore. As for now, I pray for wisdom, and claim vindication from God as promised in Isaiah 54:17 "no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."
Life is about relationships. God created the first man and woman for relationship with Him and with each other. Christ lived a life of relationships. It was not about what miracles He performed on earth, but rather for whom he did them. He described His mission by saying "I was sent to seek and save the lost." God redeems His people back into relationship. I heard a teaching once, that "all problems are problems of relationships, and all problems will be solved in the context of right relationships." I believe it. When I have more time, perhaps I'll unpack it a little more for you. But back to my first premise. Satan's first triumph (in the garden) was to create the first broken relationship, and he has been doing it ever since. Divorce, murder, revenge, hatred, bitterness, lying, drunkenness, violence: they are all simply different manifestations of broken relationship.
I bring this up because I have felt as though my relationships have been under attack. I feel like there have been words and phrases, situations and circumstances that have been designed to build walls between me and those I love. Now this in itself is no problem, and is honestly to be expected. If we are walking toward righteousness in God, we will be attacked, and relationships are a key place that Satan will attack us. What is difficult is when the words and circumstances come from trusted people.
I believe that God makes a practice of speaking to us through those around us, and so, when those closest to us speak, it would be foolishness to ignore it. But what do you do when those closest to you are saying the exact opposite of what you firmly believe is true? I believe that counsel is important, but that it is not all-important. Look at Job. His three closest friends, even his wife counseled him saying "God is angry with you, just curse God and die." Job ignored their counsel and was finally blessed greater than he had been before. In Acts several people advised Paul to avoid Jerusalem; it was their own selfishness that did this. I don't blame them, they did not want to lose the great teacher they had in Paul. But through Jerusalem, Paul went to Rome and preached the good news to Caesar himself. So how do you know when to listen to counsel and when to dismiss it?
In the coming days I need wisdom. Those of you who read this page, even those of you who do not like me, I need your prayers that I would discern what the perfect will of God is. That I will know which counsel to heed, and which to ignore. As for now, I pray for wisdom, and claim vindication from God as promised in Isaiah 54:17 "no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."
Labels: Relationships
posted by Timothy Putnam at 12:05 PM
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