Day 38 - Stumbling blocks

Had an interesting conversation with the people at work today. One of my co-workers asked what does it mean to live for God and not for yourself and do we know that we're following God's plans and not our own?  These questions came up because one of her friends praised her for always putting others first and serving God so whole-heartedly. But another friend shut her down for not living up to her full potential and doing more important things with her life. These were both Christian friends. My co-worker couldn't understand why this second friend would say things like that. She wondered if it was a message from God that she was doing the wrong things. Friends can be such a stumbling block, especially Christian friends. I say this because we expect our Christian friends to always be encouraging and supportive with Godly advice and rebuke. But just because they are Christians doesn't mean their words and advice are always from God. Satan knows our weaknesses. He knows what will make us doubt God's plans and he'll use it against us. If we live our lives based on what people tell us then he'll use that to his advantage. We must constantly ask God to strengthen and protect us from such tactics.  We need to ask for discernment so that we know what's from God and what's not.  Even praises from friends could be a stumbling block.  Sometimes we just need to step back and think about why our friends said what they said. If you understand where they are coming from then you will know their reasons for their speech and judge whether it applies to you.
 
When I told my parents about doing this internship in Calgary, I got mixed reactions. My mom was all for it and was very supportive right away. My father on the other hand had something else to say. The very first thing he said was 'will you get paid?' and didn't really want me to do it. That really crushed me and it made me cry. I was so excited when I told my parents that I really wanted to do this. But instead of being supportive, he talked about money.  I was really angry at him for being that type of person, to always think about money first. But I prayed and asked God to help me understand my dad. And it came to me that money is what my father does. He works with money, both his and his hundreds of clients. He has to think about money first. And of course being the dad that he is, it's always about how he can provide for his family and I think he tries to press that onto me. Money means being able to take care of yourself and others.  Of course that's what my dad believes, not me. So I really had to step back and understand where he was coming from with his advice.  I concluded that I wasn't him and I didn't see it from his perspective.  If I approach this with the idea that parents are suppose to be supportive of everything their kids do right away especially when it comes to serving God then I might have listened to my dad and not have come to Calgary to serve with eMi.  And I know that God wants me to be here, why he wants me here is another story... Of course once parents see the seriousness of their children's committments, they will be the first to support them all the way.  My dad is now one of my biggest supporters for me to be here!