Parting of the way

 

You know what it's like. You're a Christian. And at some stage in your life you became a Christian. Either you were brought up a Christian by your parents, or you became a Christian later on in life.

You brought up your children to follow your beliefs. And all through life you and your family, extended family even, have walked the same path following Jesus.

Then at some point, someone decided to take a different path. Your spouse maybe, offspring, parent or other relative. They have decided no longer to follow Jesus and His teachings. Slowly but gradually they have ceased to believe. 

What do you do?

Arguments, debates, discussions and persuasions have not helped. If anything, people have become more entrenched in their way of thinking. It's probably got to the stage that families have broken up over this. People no longer talk to each other or see each other. Grand-parents have probably been denied access to grand-children. No contacts whatsoever between the generations or those we once loved so dearly and still do.

And the devil laughs.

Let's face facts. You cannot live someone else's life. It is difficult enough these days to live your own life without having to influence someone else to live their lives according to your morals and standards.

Look at the life of Saint Augustine, for instance. In spite of the good warnings of his mother, as a youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle associating with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits. His very nature, he says, was flawed. 'It was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own error—not that for which I erred, but the error itself.' Note also his famously insincere prayer, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet."

 

However, it is said that his mother prayed all her life for God to help him and eventually Augustine turned to God and became a leading figure in the Church.

 

Perhaps that's what we should do when our loved ones walk away from God and there is the parting of the way. Pray, pray and pray some more.

 

God allowed the situation to happen. He did not cause it; just allowed it to happen. Had He in any way tried to stop your loved one from choosing a different path, then He would have interfered with that person's free will to choose. God let them go; but continued to love them.

 

In John Chapter 6 we read that Jesus said He is "the Bread of life" and later He says that unless people eat His flesh or drink His blood they will not have life.

As you can imagine, this was very confusing to His listeners; even His followers and disciples.

"What is He on about?" they asked. "How can we eat His flesh and drink His blood? This is cannibalism surely. This is too much for us. We don't want to follow this guy any longer!" Or words to that effect.

So what did Jesus do?

He didn't say, "Hey ... wait a minute. You didn't understand what I meant. This is what I really meant to say ... let me explain!"

No ... Jesus let them go. He didn't try to justify Himself or what He had just said. It was as if He dissolved the unspoken contract between them. They could not accept a certain clause so He let them go; and continued to love them.

And that's what we should do also. Let them go, but continue to love them and pray for them. And to be a good example by the way we behave.

Help Me In My Unbelief

 

You know how it's like. When all is well in life and you feel at peace and confident. It's easy then to wave your hands in the air, sing "Halleluiah" or such like Praise Song, and tell everyone how good and great is Our Lord.

But what happens when things aren't so good? When they are bad? In fact when they're very bad? Very bad indeed?

Do we still jump up and down praising God? We should ... but do we do it? Always?

Or does a tiny little bit of doubt creep into our mind, and it slowly grows as big as the devil's smile?

Our human nature dictates that at times we do doubt and worry. It's how we're made. It's how God created us. And He knows too well that it's our human failings that come to the fore when the pressure is on.

We may pray and pray, and then pray some more. But then ... nothing. No response from God or from Anyone else out there. It's like talking to a phone that has been cut off.

We ask others to pray for us and our situation. They promise to do so. But still nothing. No One seems to be listening on the other end of the phone.

Our doubts grow and the devil smiles some more.

We ask whether God is really there. Does He exist? Is it all an imagination? Are we alone to our fate and our destiny as the world goes round and the years pile on to our shoulders?

When we're at our wit's end with doubts, fears and worries. When we feel that we're losing our Faith and the very beliefs we've held on to over periods of time; that's when in effect our Faith is being strengthened.

The very fact that we're still praying, or we're asking someone else to pray for us because we're too tired and disheartened; this fact alone is itself proof that we believe in something or Someone.

We wouldn't pray if there was no One there to listen. The very fact that prayers are still being said proves that deep within our souls there's still a very tiny flame still burning ... still hoping ... still daring to believe. Despite all our doubts and troubles there's still a teeny weeny little bit of belief. It may be smaller than half a mustard seed. But it's still there.    

All our pains, our worries and our troubles serve to strengthen our Faith, however small it is right now.

As the man said to Jesus: "I believe, Lord; help my unbelief". (Mark 9:24).

The man believed in something or Someone, however vague and confused his belief was, but that was enough for Jesus to take pity on him and to respond.

We've all got different amounts of Faith and Beliefs ... assuming they can be measured as such. Some of us can undergo great difficulties and pains and their Faith remains steadfast and an example to many. Others crumble and tumble at the first hurdle and break down to almost nothing.

God knows that. He knows us all and He knows our capabilities and our propensity to be tested. Read this bit from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians a couple of times.

“Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out”. (1 Corinthians Chapter 10 Verse 13).

God will not allows us to be tested beyond our capabilities. He is not in the business of losing souls ... least of all His own followers. He'd leave ninety-nine safely praying and go out looking for the one wandering away in a daze.

When we ask God to give us Faith ... to "help our unbelief"; He doesn't give us a magic pill to increase our Faith, or wave a magic wand to make it happen.

He allows a situation to develop to give us an opportunity to trust Him more and so increase our Faith in Him.

Wow ... that's complicated.

He allows a situation to happen which makes us trust Him more ... to increase our unbelief ... to increase our Faith.

I once asked someone how come he had such great Faith. He replied that in life he'd been through so many bad situations where he knew that God was there every time helping him.

That made me feel smaller than half a mustard seed.