How to return to there from here, part 7

How to return to there from here, part 7

Ruth 1: 6-14

V14 “Orpah kissed her mother in law goodbye”

In my earlier years of being a pastor I recall spending long hours with members who wanted to attend a different church and not mine. I would do all I could to keep hold of them. I wanted to see a church being built and losing people was not the right way to go about it. They would always tell me not to take it personally, that this had nothing to do with me, I think they thought they were bringing me some comfort. It was like going to the butchers and saying “I won’t be shopping here anymore but don’t take it personally, its not you, its your meat.”

7. But what I really hadn’t grasped at that stage was the truth that some people will only be with you for part of your journey.
There are those that you have to walk away from. 1 Samuel 15:35 and 16:1. There are times when you have to say this:
“I cannot stand around here waiting for you. I cannot stand around mourning my losses, reliving my past and what we could have had. I’ve got to return home. I’m becoming all that I can become and I can’t do that by regretting the past and wishing I had what I once had.”
There are those who will have to walk away from you. John 6:66-67. At these times you have to say this:
“This is who I am, and this is where I am. I’m becoming all that I can become and if you walk away from me then that’s fine. If you don’t like me anymore, if I no longer fit into your personal agenda of what you want. If I am not being the person you want me to be and you don’t want my friendship then I release you to go. I realise you were only there for part of my journey”.
This is all good, because it leads to returning to there from here!