Up close and Personal
Photo by SANDRINE
March 14, 2007
The Will of the Won't
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy
is that one often comes from a strong will,
and the other from a strong won’t.
~ Henry Ward Beecher
We humans can come to some pretty interesting suppositions like Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed! It may make sense to us at the time we make it our truth or rule to live by and we grow defensive or angry when our truths are challenged. We’ve probably all experienced a rift between two family members that shreds the rest of the family. The fallout can literally cause physical illness in some family members. There are two choices of involvement. Each one either gets involved with their opinions making resolution much more difficult or waits out in prayer the reconciliation of the feuding duo. An interesting dynamic in a parent/child conflict is the parent is often up again their own indwelt by birth personality trait in their child. This can be excruciatingly painful if being right is what each is seeking. You can put yourself in someone else shoes to feel their pain but until they are in your prayers you’ll never understand their heart. It’s not just about each person coming to the table prepared to forgive - each must be prepared to be forgiven. As Henri Nouwen writes, “I often wonder if my knowledge about God has not become my greatest stumbling block to my knowledge of God”. Sometimes the activity of God comes in unusual ways. God often sets up scenes that appear to be negative on the front end, but God has orchestrated these events for His glory.
Without Pharaoh's pursuit of Israel at the Red Sea,
there is no miraculous deliverance.
Without Lazarus's death, there is no rising to life.
Without Goliath, there is no underdog story.
Without Peter stepping out of the boat,
there is no miracle on the water.
Without Judas' betrayal, there is no resurrection.
If you are experiencing a difficult family feud presently know that our personal turning point and our place of victory is in the Lord.
2 Peter 1:5-8 says "Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful" (CEV).
Dr. Michael A. Halleen shares a time his dad once relented on a family rule about no competitive sports on Sundays to let him play in the city championship hockey game. As they drove to the rink, he asked his Dad why he had changed his mind. "Sometimes we make up rules just to keep from having to make decisions," he said. Our resolve not to forgive serves the same purpose. Then we do not need to re-think a decision, re-do a relationship or re-live a hurt. Sometimes we refuse to allow *ourselves* a second chance because we lack the courage to try, to risk failing again. We lack hope. Wow! That’s worth pondering. It gives a wider meaning to the old adage, “To forgive is to set the prisoner free...and then discover the prisoner was me”
A Pearl to String: Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher, once remarked that "One should always keep an open mind, but not so open that one's brains fall out." To give irresponsible people a second (or third, or hundredth) chance is often to risk the loss of some gray matter-or worse. But it can also be the right and sensible thing to do. "The circumstances of life, the events of life, and the people around me in life, do not make me the way I am, but reveal the way I am" ~ Dr. Sam Peeples
Thriving knowing God likes to show Himself in the midst of the messes of life,
Lyndi
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