Lazaroo – Friday, May 28, 2010
May 28, 2010 I Lazaroo.
Pray the words of this Lazaroo aloud, in trembling trust:
“… your friends will deceive and overpower you…”
(Obadiah 1:7)
I’ve had a few “friends” like that, Jesus.
People I thought I could trust.
I opened up
confided in them
confessed my sins and faults
told them some long-kept secrets
took a risk and shared my most cherished dreams
only to have them withdraw from me when I was most vulnerable
leave me hanging out to dry
betray me.
The easiest thing to do when that happens is to shut down
clam up
back away
keep people at a distance
give up the idea of anything but surface friendships
swear I’ll never trust the innermost part of me to anybody, ever again.
But is that truly safe –
or is that a violation of the way I’ve been designed?
You’ve created us with a fundamental need for transparency with each other.
Caution in friendship?
Sure.
But dark, empty, lonely isolation?
No.
Better betrayed
than dead inside.
_________
Psalms 41:6-9; Proverbs 12:26; Romans 12:10; Romans 12:16; Romans 13:8; Romans 15:7; 1 Corinthians 13:7; Ephesians 4:2; Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:21; Colossians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Peter 3:8; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 4:11-12
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Sam Says:
This is a kick in the rear, folks. I went back and read the entire chapter, in both the English Standard Version and the Contemporary English Version, which updates the language a bit.
Isolating ourselves in order to protect ourselves from being hurt isn’t working, at least it hasn’t for me. I know, because I’ve done it, and still fight the tendency to isolate myself due to past betrayals, and thought myself wise for it. I’m now reaping the harvest of that wrong thinking, and have to work much harder to plant a new crop of good seeds.
This is telling me that idly standing by isn’t going to help me grow – in fact, it will eventually bring me down, much like Edom hiding in that mountain fortress. God can and will ‘reach out and touch someone’ wherever they are, be it a mountain fortress or an underground cave.
Along with the personal warnings, I got a warning for us as a nation – we have played political ‘musical chairs’, stood by while nations were exploited, and done a bit of exploiting of our own. We’ve become prideful, selfish, and think we’re the wisest ones on earth. We aren’t, and I fear the price will be paid for our folly, as individuals and as a nation.
May 28, 2010, 8:24 am