Thomas Jones or Arthur Bloch (depending on which Google result you believe) said, “Friends come and go but enemies accumulate.” I mentioned yesterday that there were men who impacted my life in both positive and negative ways that the Lord has used in my life to get me to this place… one of the negative ones walked back into my sphere of influence today. This person’s impact on my life is ongoing, the details are not important, but my reaction when I saw this individual was. It was not the most Godly.
The reality of life is that Jones or Bloch is right, enemies accumulate. As much as you may try to avoid them, I have found that it is not practical, nor a profitable way to live. What do we do with them? I have prayed for this individual, forgiven them, prayed again for them for periods of time daily, repeat… Yet, still when they entered into my sphere again, my reaction was not something of which I am proud. Our kids notice this reaction; they notice how I react to difficult situations. How I handle the hard stuff speaks more loudly than what I tell them is right.
So got home from where this happened sat down with my journal and Bible and began to tell the Lord that I was not happy with Him or the situation. I began to write out my complaint to Him, explaining why this was not a good situation (in case He had overlooked it) – by the way I learned this from David, many of his Psalms began as complaints to God about his various situations. He led me to Psalm 93:1 and 98:1 – “He reigns” and “He has done wonderful things.” This evening I was working through this again and was led to Matthew 5:43 – 44; Luke 6:35 (I really do not like this one); Romans 12:20.
The fact of the matter is I have not been faithful to pray for my enemies. In my last journal I had a list of them that I prayed over daily. I did not transfer that list to the new one. I do not know, but I suspect that if I had just prayed for this individual I would have reacted a little better. The other reality is that my Lord is sovereign. He uses both positive and negative forces in my life to make me into what He has planned. My job is to receive that from His heart with thankfulness. It ain’t always easy.
So got home from where this happened sat down with my journal and Bible and began to tell the Lord that I was not happy with Him or the situation. I began to write out my complaint to Him, explaining why this was not a good situation (in case He had overlooked it) – by the way I learned this from David, many of his Psalms began as complaints to God about his various situations. He led me to Psalm 93:1 and 98:1 – “He reigns” and “He has done wonderful things.” This evening I was working through this again and was led to Matthew 5:43 – 44; Luke 6:35 (I really do not like this one); Romans 12:20.
The fact of the matter is I have not been faithful to pray for my enemies. In my last journal I had a list of them that I prayed over daily. I did not transfer that list to the new one. I do not know, but I suspect that if I had just prayed for this individual I would have reacted a little better. The other reality is that my Lord is sovereign. He uses both positive and negative forces in my life to make me into what He has planned. My job is to receive that from His heart with thankfulness. It ain’t always easy.
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