Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Good morning my bloggy friends! My husband and I have been painfully watching some close friends go through a very difficult time in their marriage. We have attempted to help the situation by giving them Scripture verses, prayer, our advice and encouragement, but it doesn't seem to detour the hearts involved.

Feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, I wondered, do I need to be bold and somewhat harsh with pointing out Scriptures, again, that show their choices are wrong in God's eyes or do I leave them with their decisions and just be there for them?

I read Acts 13:1-11 today - a man desired to hear the Word of God and asked Paul and Barnabas to share it with him. There was a magician with him who didn't want him to hear about God and was trying to persuade him, not to.

Vs. 9-10 "But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, 'You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?'"

Because Paul knew what the magician was attempting to stop the Word of God from being heard, he was bold and harsh with his words.

I believe there is a time to be lovingly harsh with our words and a time to stop wasting our breath.

I believe this answered my question - it's time for me to show them love and be the best prayer warrior I can be. Thankfully, our God is in control!!

What's your opinion in these matters?

Have a great day
Living fearlessly,
Christie

2 comments:

Christie Todd said...

P.S. I didn't do such a great job today of keeping my mouth shut. It always seems to be getting me in trouble!

Kathy said...

Sometimes the anger and hurt feelings go much deeper than what people are willing to admit and what we are able to see. I tend to be a 'fixer' and sometimes I try so hard to fix what is wrong, it seems to go the other way. Having been on the same end as your friends, I would just be there for them to cry with, listen to, and pray for. Eventually, sometimes not as quickly as we'd like, things will fall into a 'new normal' and it all works out in the end. Maybe, like my situation, they will end up being better friends than they were spouses? The Lord moves in mysterious ways.