Though I am not at a loss for ideas, I haven’t made myself
sit down and write a blog post in some time now. I want to be successful at
blogging and make a difference by presenting alternate ways of looking at
common themes but sometimes the motivation just isn’t there.
I’ve been so overwhelmed with trying to self-publish my
first novel, . . .and you win some
and deal with some challenges at my day job, I’ve let some important things slip
and for this I am truly sorry.
God is doing a new thing in some areas of my life that I
would, frankly, like to stay the same. On the other hand, it seems He is being stagnant
in the areas I want to change!
One area where God is doing a new thing, is in the young
adult bible study I facilitate. But instead of embracing that change and
thanking God for doing a new thing, I have been mourning the old thing which
has left me feeling sad and disheartened.
Many of our participants are now in different stages of their
lives than they were when we started. Their
priorities have shifted and commitments are needed elsewhere.
This isn’t the first time we’ve experienced a shift. Years
back, we had a wave of people that moved out of the Birmingham area, but at the
same time, God was faithful and brought in a new group of people. The people
who moved away were missed but our group didn’t miss a beat.
A Word I received at my church’s Women’s Retreat based on
Deuteronomy 20:1-9, recently came back to my remembrance that definitely speaks
to this situation. It was called, “Go with
Who You Got Left.”
When changes like this occur, we can be tempted to label it
as a work of the enemy. The change isn't the work of the enemy but how we
potentially respond to the change can be.
The speaker reminded us not to be intimidated by large
opponents but keep our minds on what God has already done for us in the
past. We must recognize who is our true
enemy- it can be a concept or a person.
Some people have divided attention that would keep them from
being effective in battle or bring down the morale of the other soldiers. This
doesn’t make them bad people, just not right or ready for that particular
battle.
When the people who usually come through don’t, it
doesn’t mean the battle will be lost. We must stop talking about the ones who are no
longer here and appreciate the ones who are. They are the remnant when we tend
to treat them like the leftovers.
The Gleanse: Let God do His job and stop whining.
Bemoaning the people who are no longer here just lowers your productivity and
keep you from fulfilling your purpose. The battle will be won with the ones
that are left.
