(Decisions Of The Heart Part I) - Free Indeed - Abundant Living After Abuse

Sometimes the decisions of the heart can be so hard to make especially when your decisions are predicated in strife. Whether one is married or in a relationship, strife can be the major reason that relationships, friends and family need to separate. Strife blinds us, keeps us unfocused and in an unhealthy mental state. I have come to realize as I get older that strife is something that we will never get used to. Let’s look at Abraham, God wanted Abraham to leave his comfort zone and start anew with his family and all his servants. Well, Abraham decided to take along his nephew Lot and his family and servants. 

God did not ask Abraham to take anyone but his family and his servants yet because Abraham loved his nephew he decided to take the initiative to take him on a journey not ordained by God. In time, Lot’s servants were in strife with Abraham’s servants and things did not look so good. God promised Abraham a new life but Abraham decided to share God’s promise with someone who was not really vested in the promise to begin with. Why do I say that? Because you can see that by Abraham choosing Lot it made a mess of what should have been an easier journey. Finally, Abraham had to practically beg Lot to go his separate way and he did. To me, it seemed that Lot was spoiled and had his way. In fact, Lot chose the best land for himself. The strife that Lot created for Abraham was awful, Lot got kidnapped, and his servants fought with Abraham’s servants so on and so forth. Once Abraham released Lot, God was able to bring his promises to fruition. Read Genesis 13 for more information. 

When we let go of people that cause us strife God can do miracles in our lives but not until we choose to let go of the very thing that causes the strife. God has great plans for us as mentioned in Jeremiah 29:11 and sometimes they don’t include certain individuals (i.e. father, mother, sister, brother, etc.) When we choose God we know that we will be tested and we may be rejected by our loved ones. Abraham needed to learn this for himself. 

And by the way, just because we separate ourselves from people who cause us unnecessary strife in our lives does not mean that we are not being good Christians. That is far from the truth!