In the words of Shakespeare, "parting is such
sweet sorrow." Unfortunately, it's not often sweet, just sorrowful, and
it can drag on and on, as though that parting is happening every day as we rehearse it in our minds.
This is why we have to make a determined effort, a choice, to remember
people fondly. That's not always easy - and it may be a process - but
it's necessary if we want to move forward!
At some point in our
former relationship we enjoyed the other person's company and now we
must realize that we also gained from that in many ways: we learned and
grew, we gave and were given to, we laughed and we cried together. And
since there came a time for us to part, there has to come a time when we
remember the good things from that relationship and let ourselves be
thankful for them.
There might be a period of working through
that difficult parting, but if that remains our focus we will be
experiencing that parting every time we think of that person, and that's
called bitterness.
That doesn't mean we're to be unwise and
throw out the 'education' we received from the experience; it means
we're to forgive, move forward, enjoy life without a black cloud of
bitterness, and have a willingness to (wisely and lovingly) accept new
people into our lives and form new relationships.
At the very
least, we have probably gained discernment through our experience. And
chances are, the other person has gone through the same inner pains,
growth and final conclusion to 'let it go'...and perhaps there will be a
day when we meet up again as people with a fresh look at our old
friendship.
In the end, it's up to us to make the decision to
live forward - not looking at the stagnant past constantly. Remember
the words of the Apostle Paul: "I don't look back, I press forward
because that's where my reward and final prize awaits me" (Php 3:13
paraphrased).
"As much as it depends on you, let all
bitterness, indignation, wrath, resentment, animosity, quarreling, and
slander be banished from you, as well as spite and ill will of any kind.
Become useful,helpful and kind to one another, being tenderhearted,
compassionate and understanding, forgiving one another [readily and
freely], as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph 4:31-32 AMP, adapted).
When the Apostles found it difficult to both
distribute food to the church’s widows and preach the Gospel, they asked
the congregation in Jerusalem to pick 7 members who could take over
‘waiting tables’ for them. According to
the apostles, the characteristics for a food distributor included being
filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and having a good reputation
among the saints (Acts 6).
Stephen was unheard of before he was
voted into this task, but that didn’t stop God from using him as a
conduit for the miraculous. God saw the distribution of food to widows
as important enough to appoint those who were imbued with His Spirit to
do the job, and he particularly gave Stephen the gift of miracles as an
anointing for waiting tables in the food pantry.
Stephen
wasn’t an apostle, he wasn’t a preacher, and he wasn’t a pastor! He was
a church member who immersed himself in the Word, loved the brethren
and lived to honor God. So when the job of waiting tables was offered,
he gladly stepped in to fill the void by putting on an apron and
distributing miracles!
If you say “I am willing, send me,”
you may wind up working in the food pantry or waiting tables as God’s
means of getting a miracle or a word of wisdom to someone in need.
Are you willing to take the smallest task and use it for God’s glory?
“However, we possess this precious treasure in [frail, human] vessels
of earth, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be
from God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor.4:7 AMP adapted).
Jesus chose “ignorant" and "unlearned” men to
change the world for His glory (Acts 4). They could read and write, but
they were common laborers – people who knew how to put in an honest
day’s work but had no influence or societal standing.
So it was a shock to the religious leaders of the day that Peter and
John would be bold enough to confront them on matters of religion. In
fact, Acts 4 says the leaders were practically spellbound when they
heard convincing and powerful arguments from Peter and John. But they
realized these men had been with Jesus because they spoke and acted just
like Him, preaching the Gospel and healing the sick in spite of the
resistance of the authorities who persecuted them.
Sin reigned
in the hearts of both the Jewish and Roman leaders of that day, just as
it does in many of today’s authority figures. That's why John the
Baptist was beheaded: Herod and Herodias couldn’t stand to be told the
Truth of God about their adulterous and Godless lives (Matt 14, Mark
6). These were leaders of an earthly kingdom whose actions and words
affected multitudes of people, releasing license to sin into their
sphere of influence.
When people are under this kind of
authority they are led away from God and all hell breaks loose from the
top down. The Old Testament is full of examples of this and the
resulting effects are listed in Deuteronomy 28. But in the dire straits
of Peter and John’s days, a remnant of common, “ignorant” and
“unlearned” men fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel and revealed the glory
of God. They were persecuted, tortured, and killed for His sake because
they refused to have their mouths closed and settle for a Godless and
sinful status quo which leads people to hell.
This is same
state of our world today: leaders all over the earth are working
diligently to enact laws which are against the Holy Word of God,
effectively releasing the power of satan over their kingdoms in the name
of equality and freedom. Their hearts are hardened, their minds are
darkened and they are ignorant of the fact that they are bringing the
fierce rod of judgment upon themselves and the people they lead. In the
end they will bear the consequences of their folly.
But we are
the remnant and the light, and our calling is to set self aside and
boldly proclaim the Gospel of God’s love and salvation. Now is not the
time to shrink back in fear - it’s the time to band together and boldly
go forward with the banner of the Gospel held high in our words and
actions. We cannot sit back and sip our lattes and cappuccinos while
the world is going to hell in a hand-basket! It’s time to roll up our
sleeves and completely commit ourselves to a selfless life of
proclaiming the Gospel in thought, word and deed. The eternal state of
countless multitudes may be on our hands if we are silent at this hour.
What is your part in boldly, confidently and faithfully
proclaiming this Word of life to a dying world? Are you willing to
wisely use every venue presented to bring life where sin, darkness and
death abound?
“So don't throw away your confidence and trust in
God, which has a great reward. For you need to endure until the end, so
that after you have done God's will you may receive what is promised.
In a very little while the Coming One will come and He will not delay –
His timing is perfect. But those who are righteous will faithfully and
boldly press forward, refusing to draw back in fear – this gives God
great pleasure. And you are not the kind to draw back and be destroyed
by fear from the enemy, you are those who walk in faith and bring life
to a dying world” (Heb 10:35-39 paraphrased).
Disenchantment is the feeling of disappointment over something because
it didn’t pan out to be what we expected. We might eventually become
disenchanted because we didn’t see the big picture at the start, the
segment we’ve focused on is a very small representation of the whole, or a smoke screen covered the truth of a situation or person.
But to be disenchanted we must first have been ‘enchanted.’ Being
‘enchanted,’ according to Strong’s Concordance (Ex 7:11), is to be
wrapped in a cloak of the enemy’s influence and blinded to the truth or
reality of a situation. That doesn’t mean we’re demon possessed or evil,
but that ‘wrapping’ begins as a surreal or magical feeling of warmth
and comfort, giving a person a sense of excitement and security which
lures them in deeper. The result is that the enemy keeps us shrouded
from the entire truth of a circumstance until he can turn up the flame
and slowly scorch us with frustration, distraction, disgust and a
multitude of other feelings as we begin to see the bigger picture.
We can also become disenchanted if we expect to find a ‘pot of gold’ in
every circumstance or relationship, hoping this will be the ‘thing’
which finally makes us fulfilled and happy. In this way we put
expectations on others to fulfill our desires when God instructs us to
first be fulfilled in Him, whereupon He will give us the desires of our
purified hearts.
This tells us that we are vulnerable to
enchantment/disenchantment issues because of matters of the heart.
Jumping in too quickly, jumping from place to place, jumping from job to
job – these may be symptoms of deeper wounds and strongholds that the
enemy is using to repeatedly enchant and disenchant God’s people, making
us feel like we are on a circus-like carousel of failures with up and
down feelings of excitement and disappointment.
But God is
able to stop the carousel and put us on a straight path if we are
willing to lean into the wisdom and counsel of the Holy Spirit (Acts
13:9); be careful not to jump at anyone’s prompting or enticement before
seeking God and getting His approval (Eph 5:17); and look to Him for
fulfillment in life (John 14:6). When we are content and fulfilled in
Christ we are less vulnerable to the powers of the enemy which promise
‘pie in the sky’ experiences but wind up being ‘pie in the face’
scenarios.
“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and
constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is
stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and
hopes confidently in You” (Is 26:3 AMP).
