Train Wreck

Do you have loved ones that continue to make the same mistakes over and over and no matter what you do or say will change the situation? I have been faced with that situation yet again today. It is like watching a train wreck from a distance and it is all going in slow motion. I have such high hopes for this individual yet when placed back in his old life he has continued with his old ways.

I so much just want to pick him up and run with him to try to find a new path but I realize it is not me that can do that. It has to be him and he has to find his way through Christ. As Beth Moore puts in her latest book, "Get out of that Pit," she states, "People can help us but they can't heal us. People can lift us but they can't carry us. On occasion people can pull us out of a pit, but they cannot keep us out. Nor can they set our feet upon a rock. When we come out of a pit, if our idea of stability is standing on another human's shoulders, his clay feet will inevitably crumble and we'll take a tumble. The job's too big for him." Beth has made me realize that I can be there to help my loved one along but ultimately it is going to have to come down to he and God. As Beth puts it, "Only God can hang with us through the length and depth of our need. And the length and depth of our baloney. Maybe I'm just talking about myself, but whether or not I realized it, I usually found a way to frame my pit to make me look like a victim. Not only is God omniscient, His Word is "sharper than any double-edged sword" cutting our baloney so thin He can see straight through it. He knows when we're kidding others. He knows when we are kidding ourselves. Knowing all we are, all we feel, and all we hide, God overflows with love and willingness to deliver us.

So as I set out on this new adventure of trying to be patient and not trying to fix my loved one but help guide him, give us a quick prayer because we are going to need it.