It has been said that the people that we want to help the most in life are the very ones who will not allow it. I realize that my job is to plant seeds and it is God that draws them to Himself, but that is small consolation when we love someone and invest all of our time and energy in them to try and help them find their way to the peace, joy, and love of Jesus, only to have those efforts spurned. We are cursed for our love for them.
For years I had prayed and prayed for my brother and talked to him until I was hoarse, but no matter how hard I tried to reach through his bitterness, it was to no avail. He would curse me, make fun of me, call me a “Bible thumper” and worse, and summarily reject God.
Finally one day he cursed me out on the phone and I’d had enough. I went into my bedroom and got down on my knees and told God that I had said all I knew to say to Jim and I had prayed every prayer I knew to pray for him. I said, “God he is your problem now; I give up. Nothing I say or do makes any difference. You deal with him”.
The very next day through a series of very unfortunate events everywhere he turned he was met with the pain and sadness of the world that he had chosen for himself which was devoid of the love of God. He finally broke down and through sobs called and asked for help which I gladly provided to him.
The day I completely turned over his problems to the Lord, it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. My sadness turned to relief. I trusted the Lord to reach Jim and He did in spite of his anger and bitterness.
If you’re trying to help a family member or someone near and dear to your heart and are only being met with rejection with every overture, then my advice is to turn them over to the Lord and then rest easy and have faith. You might as well, because more often than not they will just keep spurning your help and making your life miserable too. Remember even Jesus Christ Himself was rejected by “His own” as recorded in John 1:11 – He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name . . .
It has been my experience that when someone reaches a point where every direction they look is a dead end, they will be forced to quit looking down and look up and realize that Christ is their only alternative in this evil world.
When they do they will find the steady loving outstretched hand of our merciful Lord and Savior. If, however, they willfully choose to reject even God’s only Son, then continue to pray, but realize that the Bible is clear that not everyone will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
It is called free will. We all must choose our own way. Pray while there is yet time for the day of salvation to come to them.
Isaiah 35:8
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
September 10, 2015 – Click here to listen