A Friend Who Sticks Closer Than A Brother

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. 

I admit I used to shudder a little when I would hear that age-old adage.  It scared me and I thought if I didn't hear it, it couldn't happen.  I wanted to close my eyes and ears to losing.  Because in my mind, losing meant never regaining.  But, in God's eyes, losing is always about sacrifice.  And sacrifice always brings restoration in greater things.

The phrase, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away" has its roots in a book of our Holy Bible that is all about losing everything--the book of Job.

In Job 1:21, Job says, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Job makes this statement after he had lost his worldly possessions and his children.  He had been rich one day and destitute the next.  Yet, Job accepted his possessions for what they were--God's--even his children.  Job realized God's authority in his life.  All he had he knew came from God and he readily accepted God's plan for his life.

I've never lost everything, but I have seen my plans changed, moved, and taken away.

This is part of my story.

God put me in a place I enjoyed. It was a job. It was mentally challenging.  It was an important job and I felt like it was a job that mattered.  From the beginning, I felt this nagging that I wanted to do even more in this position.  I shared this with a friend early on, who advised, "You know what will happen if you tell them that.  They'll have you doing everything!"  I couldn't understand why she sounded so negative about it, I liked the idea of doing everything.  I wanted to understand all the ins and outs--the nuances of this business.  I wanted to understand the hard things and easy things.  I wanted to expand this job into a ministry that made a difference for people.

At first, that didn't happen.  I was trapped in small things, but in time as my friend predicted I was doing a lot more things.  I loved it.  I loved learning.  I even found ways to bring my faith into my job.  In a place where God was forbidden, I was able to start ministries that I thought mattered in some small way.  They were not overtly religious, but I felt like they could improve lives and I prayed that the people they touched would feel the hand of God in their lives through those ministries.

The jealousies reared up and planted bitter seeds in the hearts of others.  Those close to me and those not so close.

It's too much, you'll blow one day.  You can't have someone doing so much, you can't do it all.  Why is she doing that?  What business is that of hers?  It's too much.  Who is she?  Who does she think she is?

All this verbiage was whirling around me when the devil was allowed to enter my world.  People I had helped, turned against me.  Their wicked lies tickled ears as they sought to destroy.  Lies, deceit, back-stabbing, and ostracization became the name of the game.

For me, it was shocking.  I was not sitting on the sidelines watching the devil work.  I wasn't reading a book about the devil working.  I was in the middle of this modern-day story and watching first hand as the devil pulled the strings, whispered the commands and real people with flesh and blood followed those commands.

There were moments when I felt very alone...very alone.  I could see the spiritual warfare, but wondered if anyone else had their eyes open to it.  Slowly other eyes were opened, but all those who saw it could do was be baffled by it and talk about it.  No one could stop it.  I became only one target, while my friends became other targets.  I noted the targets were fellow believers.  

There were many different reactions to the devil's schemes.  Some joined the bandwagon wholeheartedly.  Most thinking if the devil won, they'd be on the winning side.  (Shocking, I know, but you shouldn't be shocked---it's a common reaction.)  Others tried to make themselves small and stay out of the way, hoping to save their own skin by fading away.  Others prayed.  Others talked.  Others planned ways to help everyone escape.

I kept my mouth closed and tried not to sway people to take sides.   It didn't feel like the right thing to do.  After all, that was the enemy's tactic.  I prayed that people would see on their own.

Finally, one day one person came to me and said, "I see what's happening.  At first, I didn't.  But, I see how they are forming up against you.  It's not right.  I want you to know that I can't be a part of it."

It was a moment that was a gift from God for me.  I needed those words and I needed to know that someone else saw and understood the evil around us.  And it gave new meaning to the verse, "A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24)."

This is a series...my story...something that isn't easy to share with all the "I's" in it, but something I feel led to share.  This has been sitting in my blog for weeks....unposted.  Weeks ago, a friend gave me a poem she wrote, her poem spoke to me about choosing to be God's hands and feet.  The poem has laid on my bathroom counter for weeks, a reminder of what God has asked me to do....the untold story.

For weeks, The Lord has pointed me to the books in the Bible on rebuilding the wall and the temple.  In many ways, I see the parallels.  Those set on building, those set on destroying.

This morning, I was led to this verse,

He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of the many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

Psalm 18:16-19

Praise God!  This hard time was so hard.  Escape seemed impossible.  I yearned daily for the moment when the trial would be over.  I cried out.  I pray I can relate this story for good.

I do not know who this is for, who may be experiencing a similar situation or who may soon enter a trial like this, but for you ONE person, He leads me to write.

Stay tuned as I walk you through my journey.

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from iniquity.
Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.  Psalm 18:20-24