For the past 9 years a friend has called me in her 13th hour-of-need. Trouble constantly surrounds Sarah; and calls from her seem to only come on the heel of problems. Her call this past December left me strangely irritated. Then last month her 13th hour-of-need call, unraveled me. My lack of joy in helping her weighed heavily on me, and i confessed my feelings to a friend. Her words rattled me.
"Who do you think you are? Jesus, Jr.?"
What?!? She pointed out instead of helping Sarah over the years, i was an enabler. My desire to step in at her beckoning call had possibly created more harm than good. I had not diminished her problems any, but kept her stuck in them. Seeing the situation through the eyes of another, i backed off in helping her. I felt guilty for "abandoning" Sarah, but days later she texted me a note, "All glory to God, He answered my need!"
This revelation opened up new questions. How often do i interfere with God's plan? How often do i jump in to "fix" a situation, only to impede God's work? Is helping another sometimes mean not helping?
Lord, help me to first focus on You and Your will. Give me discernment on how best to help others, when to help and what to do. I want to water the seeds of faith in others, not drown them. Only You can make things grow.
have a obedience-filled day!
veneal
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