When Life Gets In Your Way (Part 8)

You would think that a man with over 47 years in the ministry would have seen it all. Yet, I saw something I had never seen before. I saw a man so eaten up with bitterness that it was affecting every area of his life. Very little made him happy and he shut himself off from friends and people in general because he was tired of being hurt. Guess what? That man was me. My stroke affected me physically and mentally so much that paranoia begin to control my life. Hey, I am an Ordained Bishop, pastored some great churches, but I had been let down by so many that I loved that I didn't trust anyone for a long time.

During this time I learned some very important things that helped me get life out of the way and get myself where I needed to be spiritually.

-I learned that some times you have to walk away from people, not because you don’t care, but because they don’t. You can't help some people because they don't want help. If they don't want help or instruction you can't give it to them no matter how hard you try. It's their reaction and rejection that starts the hurt to build up inside.

-When someone hurts you time and time again, accept the fact that they don’t care for or about you.  It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a necessary medicine. As believers we must love everybody, but sometimes that's hard to do, especially when the ones you're trying to help hurt you over and over again. Sometimes it's better to put them in God's hands, pray for them, but leave them alone. I've pastored more than one person that tried to hurt me even though I never did anything wrong to them that I know of. I just wasn't the former pastor or my direction was different than they wanted and they often let me know about it. Their lies and false tales brought me more problems than I could handle at times.

-Don't strive to impress people with your abilities.  Don't waste another second of your time trying to prove something to them.  Nothing needs to be proven. Do your best to forgive your enemies and move on. I moved into some situations that were there when I got to the church, but I begin to believe that my peers were blaming the circumstances on me and as a reflection of my ministry. Satan literally tore me apart with those thoughts and my illness only made it worse.

I learned that people become infatuated with someone simply for what they look like on the outside.  That's like choosing your favorite food based on color instead of taste.  It makes no sense.  It’s innate, invisible, unquantifiable characteristics that create lasting attraction. Those gifts can only come from the Holy Spirit. The facts are that some people will be with you and others against you. You determine which dominates your mind.

Just as some people enjoy the smell of mint, while others prefer the scent of cinnamon, there is an undeniable, magnetic draw that attracts you to the qualities of certain people, places, and things.  Those that share your burden and vision are greater than those that oppose you. That's a fact you have to remind yourself of when the going gets tough. Sometimes it’s the scars your soul shares with them that creates the very hinges that hold you together in the long run.

Life did get in my way, but I'm glad I found a way to get past it. How about you?