Brought Together By Brokenness {Blogging Through the Thessalonians}

I sort of love Beth Moore. Like I might secretly pray that I end up sitting next to her on a flight.

I really can’t think of anything better. Two Texas gals chatting about Christ. Please God???

I love her passion for the Word and the depth of her Bible studies.

Her studies played a huge role in our adoption process. They encouraged me. They spurred me on. They spoke truth into my heart during a difficult time.

It’s been more than two years since I’ve done a Beth Moore study (you can thank Jackson for that) so I’m eager to dive into her new study on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I’ve decided to blog my way through the study and share what I’m learning. It’s just another way to go a little deeper since writing is how I so often connect with God.

In perfect Beth Moore fashion she had me hooked with the introductory video.

Two close friends. An unexpected blow up. A friendship lost.

I’ve written quite a bit lately about friendship and loss. (You can read those posts here and here.)

Before we can even begin 1 Thessalonians we need to understand how Paul, Silas, and Timothy ended up together.

The three were brought together out of a broken relationship.

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see ow they are doing.’ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left….(Acts 15:36-40).

It’s heartbreaking when a friendship is severed so quickly.

I hate when friendships end  – especially when the cause is unclear. It’s not easy for me to let go and move on.

But Beth said something that was like a balm to my aching heart.

What if God had been trying for a while to tell Paul and Barnabas it was time to part ways? What if His plan all along was for Paul and Barnabas to spread the gospel separate from one another?

But they resisted. Because, like me, they couldn’t bare to see the friendship end.

So God had to step in and it ended ugly.

Beth says we cling to the same people, oblivious of who God wants in our lives. We are so upset about a past relationship, we aren’t embracing a relationship he has in store for us now. 

For me, I was so focused on one particular friendship, that I was missing out on the person God had placed right in front of me. Someone who I believe God has put in my life for a reason. Someone he’s asked me to love and pray for. 

He had to make the friendship fizzle otherwise I would have missed the importance of the one he’d placed before me.

And it hurt. I resisted. I cried. I felt like I had screwed up big. 

But I’m beginning to see the whole situation in a new light.

Beth says, The next person we meet could become one of the dearest people in our lives.

That statement is filled with so much hope.

But we have to be willing to let go of the past, the hurt, the failed friendships.

We have to trust that God knows the people who need to be in our life and when.

Is there a relationship you need to let go of? What’s holding you back?