So how do you be a friend to someone that is going through an “I’m at the end of my rope season?” I have given this a lot of thought because friendships are so valuable to me. I am filthy rich when it comes to friends. I guess you could say I’m Donald Trump if you measure someone’s wealth by the friends they have. You guys know who you are and I just want you to know I love and appreciate you today…but I digress…
Almost all of us know someone right now that is just hanging on. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is failing to see the big picture. We don’t have enough spiritual altitude to see the supernatural. Think about it…The living and loving God is making a cosmic deposit into someone’s life. God is giving them their “faith wings.” They are becoming someone that they would never be through self-effort.
One of my best friends is going through the fire right now. I hate it for him. I am continually trying to offer him some perspective to answer his self-doubt. But think of it this way...Jesus says He is blessed. Stay with me here…Jesus says to my friend and to your friends…I am setting you apart for something special…I want to make this mess you are in your mission…I have something in store for you that is so important that you will need more of Me to accomplish it…I’m going to use you to make a difference in this world!
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2 comments:
John, everything you say is true. Whether we are at the end of the rope because of bad choices we have made or because of circumstances that we had little or nothing to do with, life has a way of taking us to the end of our rope.
This brings me to another questions: Can we believe in God's power for our friends or is it a level of humility that they must go through themselves?
God and I have a history. That's how I have faith He can catch me, pull me through a bad situation and set me in a place much better than where I was when I called upon Him. His promise to never leave me is evident. How can I relay this kind of faith to someone? Can we have faith for someone else?
It IS difficult to relay a blessed outcome to a friend in a mess when 1) you don't exactly know what the outcome will be (us humans tend to want to know everything) 2) you don't know when or how the blessed outcome will take place 3) It's unlikely that you have been in the exact same mess. You speak with no authority of experience. And yet, YOU KNOW, that if a person humbles themselves and calls upon the Lord, things take on an astronomical change for the better. Webster defines "astronomical" as "inconceivalby large".
If I perceive my blessings as inconceivably large (and I do) how in the world do I relay it to someone else?
I think what is important is the "way to the blessing" not the blessing itself.
Jesus' miracles are filled with people who believed and received the blessing. I'm not so sure we can believe for another person.
I only know Satan would love to see me in tumoil with sadness, in despair with no hope, in a panic with no where to turn. He delights in causing havoc. He would love for me to doubt what God can do. When I see only negative with my five senses, I look to God for spiritual sense, knowing He changes everything...not knowing how or when or what His plan is, but knowing for sure, when I'm through the difficult time, I'll be at the top again with an amazing story of how God worked in my life to get me there and how my spiritual journery has been strengthened.
History with God and an individual has to start somewhere.
It's been my experience that God specializes in gigantic messes...not just my messes; anyone who calls upon Him. A little faith in God goes a long, long way.
It is so refreshing to see and hear a pastor who is so transparent . . . you are one of us.
I have been at the end of my rope, and this weekend I was at the end of one of the little off-shoot ropes. I traveled to North Carolina to see my son for the last time before he goes to Iraq. The situation was fraught with difficulty because it was the first that I was in the same room with all of my four children together in six years. I have been with three of them here and there, but also my first husband was there and it was a tad awkward. I felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety, and silently I said, "I need you God, I need you right now." And He showed up. I got that peace that passes all understanding and had a wonderful weekend with everyone. I was witness to excessive drinking, and foul language, but God gave me the grace to overlook the obvious and to see that he is scared. He may be at the end of his rope, too. It was emotional, fun, poignant, sad, lovely, and peaceful.
I really like this church. Thank you for "getting it."
In Christ,
Debbe Patrick
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