Tempted to Leave
By Elaine Creasman
A number of years ago I withdrew from God’s people.
Being involved in church seeded impossible because of family problems. My children had abandoned their faith. My husband's passion for God had cooled, and our marriage was taking such a hit that I wondered if it could survive much longer. My prayers seemed futile.
When I went to church, each time someone asked me about my family, or celebrated their children's godly lives, or talked about their wonderful marriages, pain and self-pity threatened to smother me.
No one else is suffering like me, I decided. I'll just stay home
Yet the Lord continued to urge me to stay involved. Reluctantly, I returned to church, and slowly I discovered God desired to use his people—even at their most imperfect—to help me navigate rough waters.
As I tentatively stepped back into my church community and mustered courage to open up, I noticed my honesty freed others to remove their my-life-is-perfect masks and share their heartaches as well. A sense of connection with others began to grow.
My honesty led others to minister to me—and I learned how to receive their counsel, hugs, prayers, wisdom from the Word, and at times their tears. As I humbled myself enough to listen, godly women helped me view my pain and hard times from God's perspective—a testing of my faith and a means to grow. Others helped me win the battle against fears, doubts, and unbelief.
Do people still unintentionally say things that hurt? Yet, but God has used those hurtful words too. They’ve made me more aware of times when I’ve said things without thinking; they’ve helped me become more compassionate toward and sensitive to noticing those who hurt.
When I'm feeling the worst emotionally and a voice in my head shouts, Stay home! that's when I need Christian fellowship. The voice telling me to stay home isn't God's, but the enemy's. He wants to keep Christians isolated and hates when we bless and strengthen one another. God rejoices when we do.
printed in Everyday Matters Bible for Women, NLT, 2012, Jude 1:17-25
For more information on the author, http://www.elainecreasman.com/index.html
also, additional version found https://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2011/june/temptedleave.html
