“General Eisenhower, I suggest we land in Calais, instead.”
“You’re tired, Dr. King. Let our friends in Birmingham handle their own bus boycott.”
“Mr. Lincoln, we can always pass a 13th amendment after the war is over.”
“You want to be a nun in Calcutta?!? Teresa, why don’t you just find a husband and settle down?”
What if one day we realized we had dissuaded a person from his or her life calling? What if we learned our bumbling best of intentions had changed the course of human history, and not for the better? We’d be devastated, wouldn’t we?
But what if we persuaded a friend to run away from a problem that God was ready to lead him through? It’s not so far-fetched, is it? It may happen more often than we’d like to admit.
After Jesus had foretold his suffering, death and resurrection, Peter “took him aside and began to rebuke him, ‘Never, Lord!’ He said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’” Talk about bad counsel! Peter’s words were as potentially devastating for mankind as was Adam’s silence. In them were the all the making of an Eden2.0. But Jesus would have no part of Peter’s “shoot from the flesh” advice. He knew the evil at its source.
God often brings his people to individual crises of belief – decisions points from which we can proceed boldly down his unseen paths in faith, or retreat “safely” to our familiar shelters of fear. One choice represents obedience; the other, disobedience. Each will yield its own kind of fruit.
So what do we do when our family and friends come to us for input in these kinds of situations? I think, far too often, we offer coddling counsel, as Peter did. And other times, we shrug a weak “whatever” like Adam. But how much better it is to stop and pray with them, accompanying them to the throne of grace as they seek God’s will in a matter and the strength to obey it! There is where they will find real answers.
And with friends like that, who conquers enemies?
[See the daily reading in Matthew 16:21-28.]
“You’re tired, Dr. King. Let our friends in Birmingham handle their own bus boycott.”
“Mr. Lincoln, we can always pass a 13th amendment after the war is over.”
“You want to be a nun in Calcutta?!? Teresa, why don’t you just find a husband and settle down?”
What if one day we realized we had dissuaded a person from his or her life calling? What if we learned our bumbling best of intentions had changed the course of human history, and not for the better? We’d be devastated, wouldn’t we?
But what if we persuaded a friend to run away from a problem that God was ready to lead him through? It’s not so far-fetched, is it? It may happen more often than we’d like to admit.
After Jesus had foretold his suffering, death and resurrection, Peter “took him aside and began to rebuke him, ‘Never, Lord!’ He said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’” Talk about bad counsel! Peter’s words were as potentially devastating for mankind as was Adam’s silence. In them were the all the making of an Eden2.0. But Jesus would have no part of Peter’s “shoot from the flesh” advice. He knew the evil at its source.
God often brings his people to individual crises of belief – decisions points from which we can proceed boldly down his unseen paths in faith, or retreat “safely” to our familiar shelters of fear. One choice represents obedience; the other, disobedience. Each will yield its own kind of fruit.
So what do we do when our family and friends come to us for input in these kinds of situations? I think, far too often, we offer coddling counsel, as Peter did. And other times, we shrug a weak “whatever” like Adam. But how much better it is to stop and pray with them, accompanying them to the throne of grace as they seek God’s will in a matter and the strength to obey it! There is where they will find real answers.
And with friends like that, who conquers enemies?
[See the daily reading in Matthew 16:21-28.]
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