God gives us people!
Gen 2:18 (NASB) Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
God didn’t give man a $500,000 house, two SUV’s, a 52″ Plasma Screen HDTV and a recliner. God gives us people! God gave man another person, a woman. God gives us people in many different forms – parents, spouse, children, siblings, friends, bosses, co-workers, doctors, neighbors, pastors and even people we don’t know at all. God gives us people!
I get caught up in the consumer based mentality that permeates our society. I can’t deny it. You know it is easier to throw away that broken (fill in the blank) than it is to take the effort to fix it. Does this attitude flow over to our personal relationships? People are worth fixing. Lately God has been opening my eyes more to the needs of others and less on my needs. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like there is always something going in my life that demands my time and pulls me away from others.
It is time for some “life spring cleaning”. I must get rid of some of the mental clutter and focus on the people that God gives me.
I have to let you in on this. As I am writing this, I get an email from my niece entitled, “People come into your life for a reason.” If that isn’t God working in my life, I don’t know what is. Thank you Rhonda, for letting God use you. Thank you God, for using Rhonda.
April 20th, 2006 at 10:07 am
Dolan,you are so right!
So many times we discard others, because they are easier to replace than fix. We all need the love of God in our lives, and God does that in two ways. His Holy Spirit in us, and one another.
I John 3:17 and 18 says,”If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children,let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
If I say I love you, you should be able to tell, by the way I treat you.
May we all grow in love…together.
April 21st, 2006 at 10:09 am
It is really cool to see how God has planted people in my life at just the right time to try and guide me back to Him or remind of Him. When I look back at my life I am so thankful that He threw some of those people in my face a lot harder than the ones I tried to place there myself.
I thought it would be hard to replace those people I thought were friends that laughed at me for becoming a Christian, but it really became easy when I let God guide others into my life that lifted me up in my faith and life. The others just disappeared from site. Some have passed back by having come to know the Lord as well, but they have moved on their own way with their faith taking them in new directions as well.
Maybe if we as Christians, new or old, display more of what loving God is like and that it provides happiness and peace on a daily level, those that laugh at the Jesus freaks would want to be more like that than like the world.
But you are right Dolan, it is easier to run away and start over than to be where God wants you and get through what He wants of you.
April 25th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Karon asked me a question around the first year we were married and it has stayed with me this long (that in itself shows how it struck me because I can’t remember anything that happened last Sunday!). She asked me, “Do you know what life is all about?” Me, being the self-absorbed and immature young man that I was, thought of many things – money, prestige, power, family, etc. She said, “Life is relationships!” To her, it wasn’t a big deal. It was totally eye-opening to me! I know that you all have probably already worked through this, but when I thought about how precious that relationships are, it really blew me away. Life is relationships! It is my relationship to God, then my wife, then my children, then my extended family and friends and co-workers, and church family, and Karon’s friends, and the girls’ friends, and the youth, and, and, and, and, and…. It is amazing how important these are! You never realize just how important they are to you until you lose a relationship! Someone dies, and you wish with all you heart that you just had one more day. Someone moves away and you realize that part of you moved too and the telephone is great, but it is never enough! Relationships change because circumstances change, but, as I was reminded with Tim’s call the other night, the relationship can be just as strong and healthy even when they change!
Thanks, Dolan, for reminding me of this. It is something that I need to be reminded of CONSTANTLY. Also, thanks for being one of those special relationships in my life!
April 25th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
God had been dealing with me on this relationship issue for some time now. I like stuff. I have always liked stuff. But, recently God is finally opening my eyes to the people in my life and how showing me how blessed I am to have them.
Bill, I too, give thanks for your presence in my life. Sounds like Karon was right “on time” with this.