Step away from the disaster, step away!

Saturday night a dear friend shared his heart with Bryan and I. He is concerned about the choices that a friend is making. I could totally relate to him. Here is one of my stories and my response to him. Most of us have probably been there, so I hope that this helps someone.

In college there was a guy that I dated and we stayed friends after we broke up. The whole time that we dated and were friends he really struggled with his calling. I could totally see God molding him for missions or camp ministry. After we broke up, he seemed to start seeing things more clearly and moving toward that. Then he started dating another girl. A mutual friend came to me concerned about it and said that the girl was completely against him in ministry and was really trying to push him away from that. It made me so angry and broke my heart at the same time. I wanted so bad to step into the situation and fix it, but I couldn't. Honestly, I don't know what happened with them, but I still pray for him.

I think that God gives us wisdom sometimes to see things in others that they don't yet see in themselves. It is kind of a blessing and a curse for me, because I want them to see it so badly. I want to open up their head and pour it in, but I can't. It is a test of my faith to step back and trust that God is still in control and that He will make it happen in His timing and His way. He may have to take them through the muck and mire to get to the point that they see it. It may even come to the point of being broken and that is OK.

Sometimes being broken is the only way they can truly hear and see Him clearly. I have to think about the times that I have been broken and what a blessing it was. Even though the road is hard, think how much we learn and grow through that. We can't deny them that blessing. This is usually the point where I hear him saying, "Crystal, who is in control, you or me?"

Don't loose heart, He is in control. As hard as it is, just remember they will never learn or appreciate lessons that they don't learn on their own. Often, the best thing that we can do is step out of the situation and let Him work. As much as it hurts, we need to wait for the process to run its course and be there waiting at the end to help them put things back together.