Trust

Or, "Why is the Right Thing to Do, Always the Hard Thing to Do?"

Recently, I had a situation where someone confided in me about a situation in their life that required me to take some necessary actions, that this person did not want me to take. I had to end up going behind their back in order to do what I was required to do--the right thing to do. When they found out, they felt, understandably, betrayed and hurt.

It's one of those situations where I had no choice but to do "the right thing". It wasn't an option. But it didn't make it any easier. I can't imagine how impossible it would have been to do the right thing if I'd truly had an option.

But now this person, whom I care about and cherish deeply, feels that I've betrayed them, and probably won't trust me again for a long, long time, if at all. This breaks my heart. It's insanely painful to feel like I've failed them in such a way. My friends and confidants all assure me, "You did the right thing." But I have to ask, as one of the girls in the YG so recently asked me, "Why is the right thing to do, always the hard thing to do?"

And as I sit and reflect on that, another question from another girl floats into my mind, "Doesn't God want us to be happy?"

Is God so capricious, that He sets up a world where doing what He wants you to do costs you everything, and nothing good comes from it? Where following Him means you hurt all those around you? Does He get some sort of twisted pleasure out of us killing ourselves to obey Him, or else condemning us for pursuing our own happiness?

No.

It's only in my lowest, darkest moments that I could really believe that. But after a lifetime of experiencing His love, peace, and joy in following Him and striving to do the hard, right thing, I realise that there is more going on than my immediate, selfish emotional response. God brings consolation to our hearts.

And as we continue to grow in Him, sometimes He doesn't give us that consolation, just as the owner of a dog doesn't always give the dog a treat for performing a trick, so that the dog doesn't perform the trick just for the treat. Instead, God asks us to follow Him because He is God, and we love Him, not for what He gives to us, but for who He is.

And behind it all, there is a plan, and He'll let us know what it was...someday.

But in the meantime, God gives us Grace in the hard times, in the suffering. In our suffering, we can draw closer to Christ, who drew close to us in His Suffering. And in uniting our suffering to His, we grow in Him, and He uses that offering to change the world.

So, God, I'll follow You as much as I am able. Make me able, and carry Me. Use my sacrifices to work Your Will in this world.

And bless my friend. Help them see the reason for why I did what I did. Help them to forgive me. Help them to come to peace, in the knowledge and love of You.
Amen.

Problem Resolution

Matthew 18:15

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector."

Jesus gives us some advice for resolving our issues with each other. My question is, why doesn't anyone actually follow that advice?!

Very often, in my work or in my personal life, I do things that I think are right, but someone takes issue with. That's understandable. I'm not perfect. The problem is, though, that the person with the issue never actually approaches me with their concern. They stew about it, tell some other people, then finally tell someone like my employer, who, after this has been over and done for months, finally tells me there was a problem at all! So not only can the situation not be immediately or effectively dealt with, communication breaks down altogether between me and the offended party!

If you have and issue with me, please talk to me! If I don't listen, then bring in the heavyweights! That's the biblical way, the way Jesus taught us.

Talk to me. I don't bite. Honest.