People that know me in real life know that I can be opinionated at times. ( I can see the look of shock on my parents face now....) I am very passionate about things. I am a very Conservative Christian. I support our President, I believe that we should not remove the Confederate monuments. I am not racist. I am a historian. I am well educated. I read my Bible. I try not to watch too much news because it breaks my heart.
Recently, it seems that while I am opinionated I have broken my own rules. Usually, if I see something that offends me, I scroll past it. People are entitled to their own opinions - and not everybody will always agree. I have friends that are SOOOO opposite of what I believe, but we don't bring up the hot subjects.
Then, I broke my own rules.
A former good friend and I had been on shaky ground. We kept going back and forth on certain things. Normally, I don't get offended. But when I saw a post that appeared to be bashing my church my blood started boiling. I did something that I do not normally do.
I commented.
Then it turned into a heated discussion,
I could feel the Holy Spirit telling me to stop. I could feel HIM trying to pull me out of the battle. But being human, I did not listen. I kept defending my church. She insisted that it was not about the church that I had been going to, and that she attended sometimes. She had been trying to say that our church was not Biblically Sound. I kept battling back. Finally something snapped in me.
I did not like how I had responded.
I finally took a step back and did not like who I had just been.
I prayed. I dropped to my knees and prayed. God revealed some things to me that I knew that I had to step back from the friendship. I knew that while I loved my friend, for both of our sanity I had to step back.
So, I told her that.
Fast Forward a few days later.
I had posted an article in support for Opp, AL.
The article was about how the school system was facing a possible law suit because of a Christian tradition that has been going on for generations. Naturally, it was an atheist based group that was trying to prey on this small town, knowing they probably did not have the funding for a heavy legal action.
See the article HERE
When I posted the article, I had been highly upset and used the term "snowflake". While I use the term quite often I have never had anyone fire back at it. I got a comment from a good friends daughter saying that I should not be making fun of a group of people.
That was NOT my intention. To me the term "snowflake" are the liberals that challenge anything that disagrees with their own agenda.
So, I re-worded the post.
This brought more hurt and heaviness to me.
I broke down in tears. I talked to my good friends who helped prop me back up, and fill me up with life giving words. It was clear to me that the enemy was trying to bring me and my family down, and he was working through those that were close to me.
SO, I prayed some more
God then told me I should come off Facebook for a bit. It was becoming toxic. I was constantly stressed out over what I was seeing. Even though I had recently added a bunch of new Christian friends that were in groups that I was in.
I needed a break.
The last week, I have had VERY limited Facebook.
I have got on to check messages and things in groups that I am in - (I do a lot of book reviews, and coupon) but that was it.
It's been a huge blessing.
I filled myself with other things.
I filled myself with Jesus.
I filled myself with my children's laughter
I filled myself with different home projects.
I found some new podcasts to listen to.
I kept busy.
Colton started going to Cub Scouts. It was very exciting to see him start this chapter of his life. Our old neighbors in Ohio were leaders, and Colton used to love to hear about what adventures they did.
I went to the movies with some of my girlfriends from church. (we saw Megan Leavy -- it was VERY good. There is a lot of strong language, but it was a great movie)
I went to a new connect group. We are getting ready to start a bible study based on the movie "Mom's night out" If you have not seen this -- you need to, it's hysterical.
Colton and I started reading the Bible together. He has a Bible storybook and an Adventure Bible that he can read a lot out of - Because of the church we go to, he asks a lot of thought provoking questions - and we are working toward salvation. That is a huge reason I know that my church is Biblically sound.
I read more. I am currently reading "Deep Waters" By Jessica Patch. It's part of the Love Inspired Suspense series. (Purchase/Preorder: here)
I started a new devotion. "3 minute devotions with Charles Spurgeon" It's a book that I got approved to review. It's a great remembrance on how we need to keep praying. We live in a fallen world. We are surrounded by horrors of evil, hurt, pain and so much more daily. But one thing that we know is that our Master is praying for us.
Some of the verses that have stuck with me is:
John 17:13-18New Living Translation (NLT)
13 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
What does this all mean?
As we see above, the world does not like Christian teachings because it goes against everything in the world. The Prince of the world has a lot of strongholds on believers. He tries to convince us that we will be trapped in our sin forever.
Do Christians still sin? Yes. This is why we need GRACE every single day. But, by standing for Christ, sets us apart in the world. We are called to be the salt and light to unbelievers. Let your light for Jesus shine. We are not taken out of the world. Jesus is praying for us while we go on our journey. Praying made me realize I needed to step back in my friendship, and to limit my access to Facebook.
To me I have learned that limiting my Facebook interaction is something that will have to happen.
So friends, I challenge you. Take a hiatus. Limit your time. It's been very refreshing.
I am not sure where my friendship will go with my friend, I am allowing some distance between us - and praying. God will let me know what to do. My friends daughter and I have talked it out, and are fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment