I believe that people need room. Room to search, room to discover, room to be. They do not need me to push on them or pile on, or guilt them.
They don't need to have to live up to my expectations. They don't need the pressure. They don't need me to decide for them, how they should live. I am not the Holy Spirit.
That doesn't mean that I don't have good ideas, or that you don't have good ideas to help people. What it means is that they will not receive them if we are pushing. They will not welcome them if they are being stuffed down their throats.
Many years ago, I had a non-Christian friend that I vigorously tried to win to Christ. He resisted me until I finally gave up. Months later, I was shocked when he wanted to talk about faith. I asked him, "why do you want to talk now, when you didn't want to talk all the other times?" He said, "no one responds well under pressure." He just needed some time to think about what was going on.
God can do His work, in His way, in His time. He doesn't need us to be the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to just love the people you are with. Give them space, give them room. Give them grace. It's not grace if it is force fed.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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2 comments:
Thank you for your blog today on one of my favorite subjects! "Accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior or you are going to hell!" I can't tell you how many times since childhood I have heard variations of that threat from people who told me they loved me and wanted to help. It pushed my spirit lower and lower, seemingly out of reach for over 40 years.
What raised my spirit was having God's unconditional love modeled for me by a very dear friend. He told me that "the big guy" loved me before I was born, and that I didn't need to profess to ANYTHING to earn that love. It was always there for me, and always would be. It may seem odd to say, but I had to learn to trust God's intentions.
I attended a Baptist church this weekend in Louisville, and the pastor was talking about "sin issues". "Acknowledge and repent for your sins and come to Christ". Maybe "brokenness" is our euphamism for sin; but at Woods Chapel there have been no conditions placed on God's grace.
Jeff, I remember you talking about who God is; and how his grace is about who HE is, not who WE are. I am so thankful to know that Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, our Eternal King.
Sometimes my life is so crazy that I read several days of your blogs at once. This one hit home. My son (18 years) really struggles. He's made some bad judgment calls. I keep praying, keep begging him to come to church.. I keep praying... I keep crying... man... it's painful to watch. Maybe I just need to give him some space. What a dear person he is. What a wonderful man he will be when God is done with him. Sometimes I wonder why everything has to happen at once and why so many bad things have happened.. but I have this incredible hope... I believe God's word.. I really do.. I know he has plans to prosper me and not to harm.. plans to restore and redeem the brokenness...
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