Commit Your Way unto the Lord
Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:5)
I cannot begin to recall how many times I have turned to Psalm 37 for encouragement, but it is a beautiful reminder of the faithfulness of God to us. In the psalm the Lord invites us to trust in him, to follow him exclusively and to leave in his hands all of those people who do not or will not follow him.
But it is not easy to let go of some relationships that disappoint us. For a number of reasons, many of us stay with uncommitted and compromised people longer than we should. Like many I know, I have erred in my life and ministry on the side of being patient with people who are really fruitless in their Christian walk and witness, partially out of loyalty to old friends and old systems of mission support. There is a reason for this, that I am simply afraid to go the other way, believing that patience is better than impatience. If we have to err on one side of this matter — and I suppose we do in the long run, and in the short run — I would prefer to err on the side of mercy, loyalty, and patience.
But I have often stayed with someone longer than I should have — it is impossible to be faithful to the Lord and to commit your way to him without ceasing to commit your way to others who are not following him. Tonight I prayed through a matter and feel that the Lord has released me from some long associations — released me from some people. The details of this are too personal to share on the web.
(By the way, I am not speaking of marriage partners or close family members here — those relationships that we must maintain.)
Why share? But I am sharing the general fact that I have done this because I believe it will be helpful to others. The question is how long do we remain loyal, supportive, and engaged with someone when they are immature in their faith and unfruitful in their witness? If we pull away too quickly then we become divisive ourselves, for no one among men is perfect and all ministries have their limitations. But if we do not pull away at all then we can be dragged into the unfaithfulness as well.
An analogy I have playing in my mind is of the lifeboats being boarded on a sinking ship, people standing in line waiting for their turn, the ship sinking deeper into the ocean each minute. Time is short. Salvation and deliverance are nearby, at hand. But someone, for whatever reasons, causes a halt to the progress in this line of deliverance because they want to argue about what was served for supper, or some other obscure, insignificant detail. Or, they insist on everyone leaving the line to go watch the performers one more time. They are a distraction at best, a hindrance at worst. But I have known ministers who thought their calling was to invest (or waste) their entire time in these unresponsive and obtrusive than to move on to those who do respond.
Samuel had a similar experience. He grieved for Saul and wished him to become a better man and a better king. God finally told Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?” (1 Samuel 16:1) Led by God, Samuel went from there to Jesse’s house to anoint a young David as the next king. There, in David, not in Saul, was the hope of the nation, and of the whole region and even the entire world.
If we break the relationship too quickly we are guilty of judging others, of failing in the areas of patience and kindness towards them. But if we hold on too long, we will be fighting against the direction of the Lord’s leadership. To say “hello” to the opportunities God has for us we need to say “goodbye” to those who distract us and deter us from following him.
Letting go and following God. Christ commanded his disciples, that when they meet resistance to their message to shake the dust off of their sandals and go to the next town. We love all in the name of Christ, but we must invest our time and efforts in those who are responding to Christ. We cannot please both God and mankind.
Another inspired treasure in Psalm 37 connected to this matter is:
For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For a little while the the wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalm 37:9–11)
Those who are unwilling to follow the Lord shall be cut off, and whether you see this as someone losing his salvation, or someone simply being sidelined in the work of God, or a backslidden believer being taken to heaven before their time by the judgment of God, in its application it means that we don’t have to worry about these people. They are not our problem. We can give them to God and he will deal with them. We will see them no more.
The time comes in life and ministry when we must focus on loading the lifeboats of the gospel and let others fret over the obscure and unimportant.
Perhaps you are dealing with similar issues. Perhaps there is someone or several ones who are distracting to your Christian walk and to you fulfilling the calling God has for you in life. Do not judge them, nor completely close the door to them — they may repent and change. But if they are slowing you down, you must give them to God and say as Joshua did, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Let them go and obediently follow the leadership of Christ in your life. You will be more fruitful and joyful.
