Don’t Just Sit There!
Excerpt from Immovable Faith
by
Shaunna Jackson
copyright- 2007
Second Kings Chapter 7 says, “Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city (Samaria) gate. They said to each other ‘Why stay here until we die? If we say, “We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will also die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live, if they kill us, then we die.’”
Those men had probably been sitting at that gate for a very long time, shunned and ignored be their own people because of their disease. Most likely, they were very hungry and very tired of begging. They had no idea when they decided to get up and go to the Aramean camp, that God was about to bless them. When they got to the camp, there was no one there, but left behind was food for days, clothes, and great riches. They ate until they were full, probably shared some good laughs while they filled their pockets with goodies and then, they were convicted. They knew that their lives had been spared and that they were wrong for keeping these goods to themselves. Even though their people had cast them aside, they thought enough of them to share their bounty.
My purpose for sharing that is this; you can choose to sit in your misery, or you can accept that you have a responsibility to get up and move toward your blessing. Grieving the loss of something or someone is appropriate for a time; being frustrated about your problem is appropriate for a time, but then it becomes unhealthy and death inducing. I don’t necessarily mean a physical death, but more a spiritual, emotional death that prevents you from moving on and fulfilling your purpose here. When you are waiting for God to show up, the worst thing you can do is sit in the house apart and distant from other people. I personally tend to be an isolator. I have determined (and accepted), that part of my purpose on this planet is to comfort and console other women who are going through their own valleys and fighting their own giants. I am not opposed to this at all, but I also find it curious that even in the midst of my struggles, God insists that I get out and help someone else.
I was advised to pray for the revelation of someone else that is going through my same or similar struggles and pray for him or her. Inevitably, God brings me someone who will need and find strength in me, even in the midst of my challenges. Getting out of the house and focusing on someone else diminishes the size of the giant and allows for my peace and hope through the valley.
Just recently, I found myself confiding in a friend, telling her that I willingly accept my assignments as they come, but sometimes there are days when I want to get as far away from people as possible. I don’t want to answer the phone, I don’t want send email, I don’t want to see anyone; I just want to hide and fall apart. Sometimes I want to be the one who just sits and lets someone else fill me with the encouragement that I find to comfort others. I have learned though, over time, that by being set apart from the rest of the world, I am moving in a direction opposite of what God intends for me.
No matter how long we ignore a problem, or no matter how far we go to isolate ourselves that does not make the giant go away, it just makes it more obvious. No one else may know what is going on, but the only thing you will think about, is your problem, so get out and do something. Do something fun, do something you have always wanted to do, do something that requires you to be with other people whether you feel like it or not, do something that will move closer to the other side of your valley. Do something God has directed you to do. If it means returning that phone call, or writing that letter, whatever it is, get up and do it. Remember, we will have the promises of God if we obey his word and take care of his business. And, as you go about this business, do so with a joyful heart. There is so little joy in the world; it is up to us to create a joyful atmosphere not just for ourselves, but especially for someone else. Someone out there needs you; they need your presence, and your gift.
Remember that we must accept the life we have been given. Our lives are always going to be filled with difficulty, and we only get one life to live, so it is important that we do what we have been empowered to do in this lifetime. Do not sit at home complaining that no one is calling or that no one noticed you haven’t been in church, or that your bills aren’t getting paid. Just as no one else knows your pain, no one else is responsible for your happiness...To purchase this book, Contact Us.
Hosea 4:6:
(amplified bible)
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you that you shall be no priest to Me; seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children."
Author/Founder Shaunna Jackson
