Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it.” This is the Lord ’s declaration.
Jeremiah 7:11 HCSB
Pray
Father mold into me the strength, courage, and conviction to always stand up for what’s right, to confront the wrongdoing and the doer, and to accept those things that I cannot control—but rather release them to you. Father give me the strength and courage to set boundaries in my life, boundaries with other people, and to create a healthy distance from those who live toxic lives. Help me to let go of and heal from my hang ups, issues, insecurities, and sinning ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reflection
Has a loved one ever stolen from you? Blatantly lied to you? Been abusive towards you? Coldly disrespected you? Manipulated you into believing that they were a certain type of person, or lived a certain type of way? Have you suspected that they were stealing from you and others but your interventions fell short of any real results? Do you have a loved one who is abusing drugs and/or alcohol yet you keep ignoring the problem? How many times have you known that this person has been behind the wheel of a car? How many times have you witnessed the aftermath of their binging behavior? How many times have you bailed them out of jail or financial binds?
I just spent the past hour reading forum threads about family members, young children and adult children, who stole from their family, were abusing drugs and/or alcohol, were blatantly disrespectful and sometimes abusive, and their family didn’t know what to do. I read of parents and other family members who just couldn’t take the betrayal any more and they kicked the perpetrator out of their home and forbid their return for any reason. Then I read of instances where people continued to forgive and let “slide” the offenses even when extremely valuable and sentimental items were stolen.
Have you ever experienced this phenomena? Are you experiencing it now? It’s painful to have a stranger steal from or betray you. But it feels like your insides are being gutted when it’s done by a loved one.
I wonder how God feels.
How does God feel when those perpetrators commit those acts? How does He feel when we too disobey His commands? Do we not also justify our actions much like the lying, cheating, stealing, abusing/abusive family member who is tormenting us?
I think that just like God lovingly allows us to stumble and fall into valleys, yet never completely cutting us off, we too must lovingly let our perpetrator-family member go so that they can stumble and fall—-because we can’t go farther down when our faces are on the ground. We can either stay there or get up, and we can’t get up without God.
Lovingly keep those who are inflicted with the thieving, lying, abusing/abusive “bug” at a safe distance, so that you can allow God to have complete access without your interference. Every time we interfere and think that we can do God’s job and fix something faster, we end up being the victim. There’s a big difference between an intervention with tough love, and trying to “fix” someone. Set and stick by boundaries and rules to protect yourself and other family members, and let God handle the details. The perpetrator will only get and accept help when they want it and see the need for it. Until that time they are like a nonstop tsunami that will destroy anything and anyone in their path.
Let go.
We also must own up to our sins, large and small, and determine whether or not we will continue doing these things and deal with the immediate and long-term consequences, or cease all activity and earn back the relationship God wants to have with us.
Let go.
Love,
Natasha
Copyright 2013. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Some Rights Reserved. All Prayers and Reflections are Copyright Protected by Natasha Foreman Bryant, unless otherwise noted.
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Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
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