Month: October 2017

Today a lot of people are all about organic things, such as: organic foods, organic cosmetics, and other organic substances but I would like us to consider organic relationships. What are they and how do we go about them? Organic relationships develop naturally without manipulation or pursuit. Now, I would never advocate complacency or passivity but sometimes we need to just allow relationships to develop without pushing or controlling them.

Organic relationships develop and progress naturally. I am not saying that you don’t have to make an effort. All good relationships require that we spend time together, encourage and support one another and sometimes step out of our comfort zone in order to be there for the other person. This can be anywhere from inconveniencing ourselves for the other’s benefit to letting that person know that we are glad that we have them in our lives and we want them to know that we are in their corner.

There is a difference, however, in an organic relationship and in one that we must manipulate in order to benefit from the relationship or to keep it going when it would otherwise fall apart. Organic relationships are those in which two people find that their lives are better because of having the other person in their lives. Yes, that sounds selfish but if a relationship is mutually beneficial then the needs of both people are met and a relationship blossoms like a flower. All relationships have times where one person’s needs are put ahead of another, such as when one person is struggling and the other has to sacrifice in order to help the other or when one person just doesn’t have what it takes to be there for a bit and the friend just understands that this is a temporary situation. These occasions should not be the normal, however, or you have a one-sided relationship.

Organic relationships should grow and develop. If a relationship in your life is stagnant then it just may be that the organic path of that relationship has led you to examine if there is still a real relationship there or if this person has become an acquaintance. Organic relationships do, at times, cease to grow and that is ok too because it is the natural course and not all relationships are forever.

 

What Happens When Your Journey Seems to Take a Detour?

Have you ever felt like you were headed in a direction with determination, knowledge and preparation only to find an unanticipated turn in the road?  I, for one, hate detours!!! I like to be able to head in a direction, see where I am going and put the pedal to the metal. I am not one of those who readily accepts that it could be more about the journey than the destination. So what do we do with this when it happens? It can happen to the best laid plans. Even those plans that have come to fruition after much preparation and much courage to take the leap and “Just Do It!”, can fall flat. 

We have all heard, “When life brings you lemons, make lemonade”, but what about when life stops you dead in your tracks and says, “Take a different road”, and it is a road which seems to lead you away from your destination. What do you do then and where do you deposit the disappointment?  God rarely takes us down the easiest and most direct path. His ways are higher than ours, states the scripture. However, sometimes it seems God has taken leave of His senses, even though we know that He has not. He is not a man that He should lie and He never calls us to anything and then takes it back. He does, however, often use a path that seems convoluted and tedious to get us to where we are going.

If you find yourself in the middle of a strange road or seemingly doubling back to an old place, trust Him. He does not say we should ignore our disappointment but He does tell us not to complain and grumble. We know how well that worked out for the Israelites, who turned an eleven day journey into forty years due, at least in part, to their complaining. I have found that we can go to Him, however, with our disappointment and be honest about how hurt, confused and even angry that we are and how we wish that He had not taken us this way. He can handle it. He not only handles it, He comforts us and gives us peace.