Awakened by Sadness

Here I write, awakened in the middle of the night, sad. I was thinking of a friend that I had not seen in quite a while. This was a friend that I enjoyed being around. He was an old crusty guy (“man’s man”) that had come to know Christ as Savior in mid-life. He was one brought “from far to near”. He grew up knowing nothing of the Lord. It was so cool to watch him as he genuinely searched the Scriptures in small group while others were just going through the motions. He finally yielded to the Spirit as he accepted Christ. But some time later, he fell to Satan’s hard charge. He turned back to the secret sins of the flesh, thus cracking the door of his life open for Satan to kick it in all the way. When we give Satan a little bit, he always takes more. It is why the Bible tells us to “flee from sin”(literally “run very hard the other direction”). As life turns out too frequently, he had not taken over as the spiritual head of his family, and had not fought for his marriage and disavowed his vows of matrimony. Soon both he and his wife were out of the fellowship of believers on their own volition.--- As I lie awake I thought about how I missed the friendship of these and other believers that have gone backwards. His new life has separated him from the pack (hers, as well). He chose to go back into the old lifestyle listed frequently on Paul’s top list of sins. But I thought, he has to be sad to miss hanging with the people that previously knew him in the truth and accepted him even “as is” before he got saved. ---He has traded his new life for the old life in a bottle. He traded his wife of promise for someone he is not promised to. --- Forget about me, what about God! God misses my friend’s worship more than I can imagine. The “One who died for him and rose again” misses hearing the humble prayers of this one who came as a man, but in a child-like faith. So, where does he take his praise in moments of joy now? How does he offer his worship to God now? God wants us to live in community with Him, and with those of the faith; because He knows it it difficult, if not impossible on our own. ---So, I pray. “God, help my friend find his way back. Help his wife find her way back. Help us to be better friends during the times of trial. Give us discernment. Give us boldness. Holy Spirit, please for the love of God the Father, divinely intervene. Amen.”