Hey…..I thought you were going to stay around….

Posted on Jan 22, 2017 in Faith Focus |

Hi everyone,

This week I said goodbye to a co-worker who moved on to another position. He only worked with me for six months but to walk along side of him while attending to the difficult inmates we deal with was a true blessing. He is a psychiatrist who was just out of residency and his knowledge, “bed-side manner”, wisdom and case-management skills surpassed all of the psychiatrists I had ever worked with before. When he told me he was moving on to another position my heart sank because I had settled into the idea that we were going to work together for years to come and this made me happy. I hope you understand that the work that I do is very stressful and there is a lot of pressure on me every day to make wise decisions in my care for people. I rely on The Lord greatly because if we don’t assess someone well the results could easily be that they injure themselves or others, even to the point of death. This is why I was so glad to have this good doctor with me.

My co-workers leaving has reminded me of the value of people who come in out of our lives. It has also reminded me that for various reasons they may be here today and gone tomorrow. My mind flips through the pages of years gone by and I see the faces of so many who have been a blessing who “moved on” and whom I no longer have contact with. These folks have been the source of many smiles, words of comfort and wisdom, expressions of love, and of great help to me personally. I am getting ready to say goodbye to once such person who I have worked with at the prison for almost nineteen years and my heart aches at the prospect. 

So what are we to do with the reality of what I have stated…that people move in and out of our lives and sometimes it hurts? May I suggest the following?

  1. Praise God for the blessing of knowing them.
  2. Pray for them, and in so doing, you glorify God and help them in the most powerful of ways.
  3. Realize that there are others in your life who will be “moving on” and make the most of that relationship now.
  4. Remember that you too are moving in and out of people’s lives, and when you are gone, you want to leave behind a legacy of love, care, faithfulness and honor.

The Apostle Paul moved in and out of people’s lives and left behind his own examples of yearning to see others as with the church in Rome to whom he wrote:

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed all over the world. 9God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10in my prayers at all times, asking that now at last by God’s will I may succeed in coming to you. 11For I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, how often I planned to come to you (but have been prevented from visiting until now), in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. Romans 1:8-13

I want you to know that I did not have this scripture in mind when I wrote those four points of advice above about how we should handle relationships but if you look at the highlighted sections of the verses above you will see that I have been taught much by God’s holy word and He brought these things to my mind before I ever read the passage this morning! Praise His name!

Beloved…look around you this week. Those you are used to seeing will one day be gone, perhaps before you even know it. Make the most of your time with them and in so doing you will honor God as well.

For Him,

Rob

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