Are You Holding On To People Past Their Expiration Date?

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."  John 14:1 NASB

It took the loss of some friendships and gaining some new ones to realize why God does things the way He does sometimes.  I was particularly hurt when one of my friends from Charleston cut off all contact with me...I haven't heard from her since before my birthday.  I have reached out, but nothing.  I had another friend to do this to me too and I have a "No Friends Left Behind" motto--only applicable to my true friends or people I care for strongly (thanks Dee lol).  The loss of these relationships created voids in my life, that have now been filled by God himself, either with new relationships or with His purpose.  Anyway, it wasn't until a recent conversation that I realized why the relationships had changed...I had changed.  

God has been working on me, and one of the things I had been praying for is divine relationships and discernment of people and spirits.  Everybody is not for you!!  I had to learn that the hard way, keeping people and allowing relationships to linger that were way past their expiration date.  Recognize the reason that you connect with these people.  See I connected with her after my dad died--we related on things that had happened in our pasts.  If you have any relationships where you are connecting with people based on past events...prepare yourself because it could be a possibility that if you cannot connect on anything after those issues have been resolved or you have been delivered from them, that your need for the relationship ends.  It could be possible that the purpose of the relationship has been served and thus that person's season in your life has ended.

This was hard, and painful to learn.  I take hold of people and I want everybody to win, I want everybody to experience God's goodness with me.  Now, that isn't to say that God will not reconcile you later or that those people will not experience the abundance of God's blessings.  It says that God is opening your hands like He did mine, and making room for bigger and better things by creating space for you to hold them.  

How do you deal with this?  The key is to wholeheartedly trust God and allow Him to heal you from the hurt that comes with loss.  You have to grieve the loss because in your mind you will always come back to the relationship and wonder.  This is just another faith act for you, trusting God's will and believing that He is orchestrating this to work in His grand plan for your life.  With that said, evaluate your relationships and determine who has outlived their shelf life!  Ask God for courage to let go if that is His will and for the peace to press forward until He presents the next piece to your puzzle!

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  Isaiah 26:3 NIV

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
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