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Topic: Time (11/15/12)
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TITLE: God's Heart for Relationships | Previous Challenge Entry
By Chrystlyn Edwards
11/20/12 -
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Even though this year has been hard for me, I do not regret living through it because God has allowed me to see through His Eyes regarding the relationships He has allowed in my life. Regardless of the tough times, I can say with no doubt in my heart that He is for me, even when others have shown their true colors to reveal they are against me (Romans 8:31).
In the past, I was focusing on the wrong relationships. I have always tried to force relationships. Instead of seeking God for direction and guidance into the right relationships by waiting on His perfect timing; I chose to go and have relationships with people who did not have my best interest at heart. Unfortunately, wanting this desire of belonging in a family & to someone, to be fulfilled in my time and in my way has gotten me hurt.
But God, in His grace, started the process of healing my heart. I grew tired of being disappointed repeatedly in trying to make relationships come together on my own. So, I chose to pray for God to teach me how He views relationships and what His Purposes are in creating them.
The most important and hardest lesson He chose to teach me is my relationship with Him is my first priority. My whole life is to revolve around Him. My relationship with Him is my first priority now. Even though it is difficult, I am learning how to humble myself before Him and be dependent like a child for Him, so He can lead me to the relationships He desires for me to have.
Relationships are from Him. They are an extension of His love for us. They are meant to honor Him and build us up. With this knowledge, I have come to realize it is very important to have a valuable and intimate relationship with Him. As I continue to build intimacy in my relationship with Him, I will know His heart and be able to truly recognize and discern the relationships that are from Him.
I am very thankful He is allowing me to learn the value of relationships to prepare me to discern who truly has my best interest at heart.
Now, my expectations are according to His standards and not my own. My prayer is for Him to allow me to have positive relationships with people in which we will edify each other. When I was pursuing relationships and wanting to fit in, I felt like an inconvenience to people. Now for the first time in my life, I would like to not only be tolerated, but appreciated as well. I love how God created me-flaws and all- with the freedom to be myself and be unapologetic about it.
In my search for significant relationships, I have tried unsuccessfully to blend my personal life and professional life together. I have learned the very painful and hard lesson that both areas of my life are separate entities.
Even though I sincerely believe God will allow me to have some friendships that will last beyond my current place of employment, I know that is not why He has me there. My focus is solely to glorify Him by doing my best in the position He has given me. I know He want me to respect my fellow co-workers, and treat them in the way He expects me to do so.
I make a conscious decision daily to not make important decisions based on my emotions because of the season I am currently in. Instead, I choose to allow the light He has given me to shine so I can blossom where He has planted me and glorify Him in the process (Mt. 5:14-16, Lk. 11:33-36).
Relationships are like treasure because they are valuable. I choose to wait on the relationships that are like treasure in God’s sight and wait on His Timing to bring them into my life. Now that I know His heart for relationships, I choose to no longer have relationships that are worthless and will serve no purpose in my life (Psalm 1).
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As for the technical writing, the essay is well written, but could be tightened up a bit to have more impact. But overall, a wonderful and heartfelt entry.
My red ink would be to go back and see how many times you repeated words. I think you'll be surprised at how many times you used the word relationship, for example. You could restructure some sentences like this: In the past, I was focusing on the wrong relationships. I have always tried to force relationships
to something like: In the past, I focused on the wrong relationships; I had always tried to force them. or you could sub words like commitment, connection, bond, kinship, or rapport.
But even with that little thing you still did a grand job of opening up your heart and sharing your story with others in the hopes of them not only to know Jesus but also so they may not experience the pain and loneliness you've gone through. Well done.