Genesis
32:9-11 Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and
God of my father Isaac, the Lord who
said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well
with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed
over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. Deliver
me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him,
lest he come and attack me and the
mother with the children.
This last Sunday, Pastor
Kyle continued in his Sermon series based upon the book of genesis by stating
an old axiom: “Do the hard things first”. When you get the tougher items done,
then the rest is easier. If you put something off, it is still there the next
day. Another thing is that after you get the large and difficult parts completed,
you feel better. This maxim holds true for relationships too. There are
conversations that we just need to have. The ultimate truism is that when
Father God tells us what to do, we do not delay our obedience. When we wrestling
with God, we with lose in the long run and will leave us with a limp. Don’t
strain; welcome the Lord’s direction and guidance.
Deuteronomy
13:4 “It is the Lord your
God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey
him; serve him and hold fast to him.”
Pastor
Kyle gave us six things to do before re-entering a strained relationship. (1)
Don’t avoid it. Avoiding would not allow proactive healing. It is best to change
your meeting to a peaceful environment. (2) Plan as if God will prosper the
encounter. Be personally prepared to handle the situation. Be on solid ground …
in a “good” place emotionally. (3) Keep a Plan “B”, & Plan “C”, & Plan “D”
in mind, just in case. God does not always respond in the way that we think
that it should. The encounter may not unfold our way, so we need to stretch ourselves
by thinking of multiple scenarios. (4) Pray. Fancy words don’t help. God knows
our heart, so let’s get to business with Him. People of God pray every day in
every way. Do not allow busyness and distractions hinder our prayer life ever. (5)
Prayerfully consider putting a thoughtful gift together. Bless someone else from
God. Heartfelt gifts tend to calm a raging disposition by setting a caring
atmosphere. Softening tension goes a long way. (6) Get alone and duke it out
with God, so you don’t duke it out with the other person. Proverbs 16:7 says: “When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Get alone, where
distractions are all out of the way. Don’t get out of your struggle for God’s
blessing until you receive that blessing and get all of your emotions out. When
in spiritual fights with the Lord, hold on and do not “tap out”. Our
willingness to “give in” leaves a mark.
Let’s
continue Pastor Kyle’s message on “strained relationships” on the next post.
In
Christ, Brian
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