Day 244: Not Everything is Everlasting

Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

Revelation 3:7

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:

I know many of us have heard these two scriptures a multitude of times, and I want to talk about them today. I want to talk about the fact that not everything in our lives are meant to last. Not everything is forever or everlasting, no matter how much we want it to be. Sometimes God closes doors in our lives to open others. Sometimes people walk out of our lives or relationships fade because they were only meant to be there for a season. We must learn to realize and honor these moments. I feel as humans we hold on so tight to things that we won’t even let our hands open to God. Sometimes we hold onto things so tight, not wanting to let go while at the same time not realizing, trusting or understanding that God has something greater in store. Sometimes He needs our hands to be empty in order to fill them completely. Sometimes as humans we are so hesitant to let go of a good thing because we don’t know when it’s going come around again. We are afraid because we are not trusting that God has something greater. We are not trusting in Him, His timing or His word. God always has something greater for us, we just have to trust Him. We have to trust His process.

With that being said, sometimes God closes doors, and no matter how hard we try we cannot open them. This does not mean God is punishing us, all it means is, either it’s not the right time or there’s a better door. Everything God does, He does for a reason, He’s not going to leave us empty handed or stranded. He always has a plan. I feel like many times we decide something isn’t for us before we give it a chance because we are so focused on our own plans. I know we all think that we know what’s best for ourselves but trust me when I say God knows much more, we’re not even scratching the surface. So we must trust Him with every area of our lives. Even our relationships.

Now this is a big one, relationships. I don’t just mean romantic relationships, I mean every type of relationship. There’s couple of quotes I’d like to reference here,

“Some people aren’t meant to be in our lives forever. Some are just passing through to teach us a lesson.”

-Unknown

“Some people come into your life as blessing, others come in your life as lessons”

-Unknown

The main point I’m trying to make here, is that even people have seasons in our lives. Some people are only meant to be in our lives for a season. We go wrong when we try to make seasonal people permanent. Meaning we could very well be holding on the very thing that God Himself is trying to break apart. Sometimes we are so caught up in our feeling that we try to force everlasting on temporary. This will only end in heartbreak. Trust me I know from experience, however God even uses the heartbreak to shape and mould us into the person He has always destined for us to be. So somehow someway God will keep us in His will.   Having people in our lives for just a season is not always a bad thing, what it means is that where we are going some people cannot go and where others are going we cannot go. It’s not just about us either, we have to be willing to let people go not just for our sake but for theirs. We know when someone’s season is up, we just feel it, so let’s not force it to continue knowing it’s over. We have to realize that sometimes we are only meant to be in a person’s life for a season, and be okay with that. This is not to say that nothing is everlasting, it is, just not everything.

All this to say, not everything is meant to last forever and that is okay. It’s life. We must learn how to let go when it’s time to let go. As well as trust God with where our lives are going and where He is taking us. We must keep a loose grip on our plans and understand that God’s plans are always greater than ours. Trust Him with everything you are and all you aspire to be.

Reflection

1. How hard is it to let go for you?
2. Have you had (or currently have) people in your life that you know was only meant to be there for a season?
3. Do you trust God’s timing?
4. Do you trust God with your life?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about the seasons and seasonal people in your life. Have an honest conversation about what it looks like to completely trust Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 245!

Day 34: Keeping Good Company and Letting Go

I remember growing up my mom would always tell us, “You are known by the company you keep.” At a young age i did not really understand what that meant until I got a bit older and encountered peer pressure. I started to see how being around certain people, I began to alter myself, I picked up their habits, their mannerisms, even their language. That’s fine if the people I was hanging around were good for me, but they weren’t and in due time I became just like them. I always like to think that I am invincible, and no one can change the person I am, but we are all susceptible to people and their influence at one point or another. I know for a fact I was, until I learned to listen to God and my elders wisdom (especially my mother).

-Dyamond

Being influenced by others can work in two ways, and that’s what we are going to talk about today. Are we surrounded by people who help us grow or keep us stagnate, and are we holding on to people who were only supposed to be in our lives for a season?

Proverbs 13:20

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (NIV)

Do not be misled: "Bad companionships corrupt good morals.” (BLB)

Proverbs 27:6

You can trust what your friend says, even when it hurts. But your enemies want to hurt you, even when they act nice.

Are we surrounded by people who are helping us grow? Are we growing from one another. As the scriptures says iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). The people that we choose to surround ourselves with must be people we can depend on, people we can go through life with, people that will hold us accountable and lift us up when we need it, and we are there to do the same for them. We must surround ourselves with people who will help us grow spiritually, people that will challenge us and call us out when we need it. The closest people to us should be the ones that challenge us the most, the people that will tell us the truth even if it’s the last thing we want to hear. In so many words I am saying that we need real people around us. As young Christians, every person that we are friends with will not be Christian and that is okay, but we need people in our lives who have the same beliefs and morals as we do. We need people in our lives who are like-minded, even if it’s just one friend that we can pray with and worship with.

• This is the reason why finding a church and being in fellowship with other Christians is so important. When we are surrounded by people who understand our lifestyle, and have the same heart for God as we do, we can learn and grow together. We must be surrounded and immersed into a God-fearing community. We are the body of Christ, a bible living, Jesus loving community. And we sharpen one another.
• We cannot allow ourselves to be  swayed by the people around us who do not have the same morals or beliefs as we do. As we  grow older, especially in our twenties when many people start to question or try to understand religion and figure out what they believe exactly, we must stand firm in our faith. By doing so we can lead others to Christ, and create a community of believers.

Are we able to let go of the people we know are not good for us or people who are only in our lives for a season? Sometimes we hold on to people who were only meant to be in our lives for a season. Meaning, not everyone we meet is going to be there until the end, and I know at the moment it feels like it is. But sometimes we grow apart, sometimes we’ve reached the end of our road, but cutting ties is the hardest part. Because it hurts, we don’t want to hurt anyone and we don’t want to be hurt. But letting go hurts, it’s not permanent but in the meantime it hurts. We have to trust that God brought these people into our lives for a reason and thank HIm that we even had the opportunity to know them. Just because some people are only in our lives for a season does not mean that they were bad for us, it just means that, life doesn’t always go as we planned.

• The best way I can describe this is going through a breakup (many friendships have gone through break-ups as well). When we are in a relationship, and emotionally invested, we are in love with this person. We think we are going to be together forever. We think we can work everything out, and we can get through everything, we are just caught up in love. But one day, it stops working, we fall out of love, we grow apart, we lose trust, whatever the reason may be; we now have to break up. We know that it will hurt us but we also know that staying will make it worse. So we make a wise decision to let go. We can still be friends, and be cordial but we can’t be how we used to be and that’s okay because that’s life.
• Now on the other hand, some people are just toxic for us, and those people we have to get away from. Run away, don’t walk, get away! Run like Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39). Some people are only looking to contaminate, and bring others down with them, (and no, that does not mean everyone is out to get us). Those people we can’t keep as company, even when we love them. Some of the most toxic people in our lives are the ones we love the most, but we have to let them go and continue to pray for them.
• All of this to say, that just because we have to let people go does not mean that it is the end. We don't stop loving them. One of my favorite quotes says, “If you love something, let it go, and if it comes back it was meant to be.” Trust God when He says let go, you never know what He has planned up His sleeve.
  
  

Reflection

1. What type of company are you keeping?
2. Are you surrounded by a community that will help you grow in Christ?
3. If God asked you to let go of a certain someone, would you be able to do it? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Talk to God about what stood out to you today. Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Ask God to send people in your life that are good for you and help you to let go of people, when the time is right. Ask Him to remove the toxic people from your life. Also pray that you are a person who can be good company, and sharpen others.

Have an amazing day. I love you, and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 35!