Today's topic is difficult.
In Granddad's famous words: "Ask me how I know."
When there is a sticky situation,
I'm the type that tackles it head on. Others might take the passive route
and never deal with it. Or, then there is the middle of the road, which
observes the situation and strategizes on how to handle it. This could be
the wisest choice for it has balance.
Pressing a topic is like beating
a dead horse, which is another one that is in my wheelhouse. Others are
keen on just letting things go. Not me. Again, balance (without the dead horse) is probably advised.
So when it came to this morning's
Scripture reading, I was amazed at Christ's stance. John 6 shares about
one of Christ's greatest ministry moments, the feeding of the five thousand. What a highlight on the newsreel of that day. I can hear the
announcer now: "Five thousand fed with just five small barley loaves of
bread and two small fish. What a miracle!" Just after that, Christ
met up with the disciples and shared the famous message on how He is the true
bread of life. Another highpoint. Then we go low. Real low.
In the remainder of Christ's
preaching at the synagogue in Capernaum, He issues statements as: "unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in
you." Then, He goes even further. "Your forefathers ate manna
and died, but He who feeds on this bread will live forever." And that
was the tipping point, friends. Jesus’ audience was doing everything but
cheering Him on.
In fact, they split.
"Does this offend you?" Christ inquired of His disciples. He
knew that this message was hard to accept; causing some to toss out their faith
as they left the synagogue. So what did the Son of all-powerful God do?
Nothing. He just let them
go.
Hold the phone a moment. He
let them go? Here we have Christ who has all the power in the world at
His fingertips and all the ability to wisely say something that would have them
stay and He choose to watch them leave. Really?
Yes. He didn't press the
issue further. He didn't beat a dead horse. He didn't barricade the
doors and say: "Stop! Don't do it!" He didn't try to further
debate them. He simply let them go.
This blows my mind. I can't
stand watching someone go to their own devices and be on a path of
self-destruction. I am frequently compelled to get on their path and
press and press and press until I can corral them back to safer pastures.
"Don't go this way! It will lead to X, Y and Z," I’ll proclaim.
But, most often, the person doesn't take my word for it, pushes their stylish blinders
back on their face and continues down their path. AGH! How defying and
sad! I just don't get it. Then I muster up more energy and stamina
to try to get in front of them again. "Don't do it! Stop!" I
beg. I show Scripture. I lay out what the rest of their lives will
potentially be. I do everything but pack their own bags for them, and at
that, I'd like to stuff their suitcases. But guess what? They just
shrug their shoulders at me and continue to go their own merrily way.
AGH! AGH! AGH! If you're with me, let's say it together.
AGGGGGHHHHHGHGH!
But then I read two Scriptures
that change my battle plan all together.
I drum my fingers on the table.
I exhale.
I
sigh.
I kick my leg back.
I realize.
There is only one Holy Spirit and it’s not me.
Pressing can result in the other
person becoming:
a) irritated (likely)
b) distant (also likely)
c) defensive (you betcha)
d) thankful that you helped
correct the error of their ways (Family Fued Buzzer Sound-ERRRR! No. Possible, but not likely).
Let’s face it. People make their own choices and it’s
our God given right to do so.
That’s the example God established in the beginning when His own
creation stumbled into their own deprivation. While He could cross the line, He doesn’t. So why should we? He allows us to make our own choices
and we must do the same for others.
This is not to say that we
shouldn’t intervene. For some
situations, we must intervene. We
have a responsibility to help positively influence what is going on. We also have a responsibility to
prayerfully discern how to go about it. In addition, we have a responsibility
to know when to stop the alarm and/or stop the help for we are not their
enablers. Only God is. If we enable others, it only leads them
further down their happy, skippy path.
This is also not to say that we
should give up on people. We
should never give up on people (hard as that may be).
What I am saying is that we all
come to a point where the person has to make their own choice and we have to back
off and allow them to think for themselves. That’s why God gave them their own brain, not a clone of
ours.
While there are some situations
where a person is completely incapable of doing this in their own mind and
strength and we must take action, we also can’t treat every person in every
situation across the board in this manner. We have to discern how to let folks go.
But, wait… there is hope. Look back at John 6:65: “unless the Father has enabled
them.” There is proof in the
pudding that not only does God let people go, but that it is in His wheelhouse
to pursue that one sheep of 99 who has strayed away and bring them home. How many times did he go get idolatrous
Israel out of the woods? We know
it is the Father’s joy when His people finally say: “I want to come home.” And like many fathers, He won’t let this
runaway get on the bus out of town without being far from them. In fact, He’s with them the whole
way. There is comfort in that.
Many of us can attest to this
very moment in our own lives. That
moment of “I just want to come home, Dad” is easily recalled. It’s our moment of surrender and it
came in our own time. Thus,
we can’t force another person’s moment of surrender. We can’t chide them into it and we certainly shouldn’t cheat
them out of it. This is their
moment; the one where they will look back and see God on their road. It is when they accept their call for
themselves that we cannot and never should do for them because then it isn’t
real for them. This is their
story, their point of redemption, their testimony. Let us not touch it.
It is between them and our Heavenly Father.
And if we claim to be anything
like our Heavenly Father, we must give others the benefit of patientially waiting
for them as we pray for them.
In the end, prayer is all we can
do. Furthermore, that’s what
Christ choose to do to.
p.s....
I should also mention my Grandmother's famous words...
Let
go and let God.
Let Him do His
work, for we know NOTHING COMES BACK VOID. He will fulfill His purposes in His own way.
© 2013 Candice Irion. All Rights Reserved.
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