Dancing in the Light

I John 1:7 "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Name:
Location: North Platte, Nebraska, United States

I am a christian wife, mother and grandmother. I am a licensed Social worker and a licensed Christian counselor. I am most proud of the relationships I have with God, my family and friends all over the world. I have been blessed beyond my dreams.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Death Spiral





I have been thinking about what causes people to fall away from the Lord. And why is it so difficult to as Jude says, "snatch them from the fire? And so, I have this new theory.

We all have dear friends and loved ones who started out filled with zeal and purpose, "chomping at the bits" to just serve the Lord. They were ready with a smile and a word of encouragement, anxious to share hope and compassion with everyone the met, eager to spend time in the Word, study with others, pray with others, and generally fill their lives with all things spiritual. Then it seems their light was a little dimmer and we were able to justify their absence with a multitude of excuses, but before long, the light was so dim, we couldn't see to find them. We became desperate to bring them back to the Lord, concerned that they were headed for spiritual shipwreck and yet unable to reconnect with them. Why? What happened that put them so far out of reach?
I think that falling away has some sort of spiralling movement. You see, it is almost as if each soul begins in the very middle of the spiral, out of reach from those outside their circle and yet as prayers go up and seeds are sown, the tight little circle begins expanding and before long, that soul is within reach, just waiting for the arm, the heart, to extend into their series of circles and pull them out. (This makes more sense when you look at the picture--:0)
So of course, the exact opposite happens when one falls away. On the outer ring of the spiral, their lives are intersecting and touching the lives of others in the body and any curves and changes begin very subtly and are very slow in coming. But as the soul gradually makes its way back to the tight and closed center, they move farther and farther from those who love them, and the changes become more frequent and more noticeable and before long, they are out of reach, quickly making decisions that suck them into the vortex of death--spiritual death. They are so far away and we struggle to reach them and encourage them, praying for the day we see them moving to the outer rings of their spiral--back out where their lives and souls are intersecting and interacting with others in the body. As long as Christ is their center, their circle becomes bigger and bigger and intersects and touches more and more lives, but once that center is replaced with self, they begin spiralling out of control. And, the only way to reach them seems to be the way we reached them in the first place, praying and seed sowing.
I have a couple of friends, friends whom I love dearly, friends who are being sucked into the vortex of spiritual shipwreck----I will never give up on them. I pray for them and strive to encourage them and yet at times . . . they seem so far away, so out of reach. I fear for their very souls, praying that God will do whatever it takes to bring them back to Him and praying that He will ready those around them to love them through whatever happens. Today, I am dedicating my prayers to all those who are spiralling farther and farther from away from God and His people. Today, I am remembering the ones I know and love and praying for those on your list. Today, I am asking Him to lengthen our arms to reach them, to strengthen our resolve to save them and to prick their hearts to want to come home. Won't you pray with me -----today?

Blessings
Neva







ps--Thanks AW for the graphic! :)

11 Comments:

Blogger jel said...

morning sis,

thanks!

4:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Makes perfect sense to me! Great post!

Pat

6:56 AM  
Blogger kc bob said...

Dave Tomlinson speaks of this phenonenon in his book "Post Evangelical". He attributes much of falling away from faith to the narrow definition of the faith that many fundamentalists embrace. He says that people often either embrace a less narrow defintion of faith or fall away from it.

Interesting thoughts.. I fall into the former but know of folks who fell away when hard times came and their definition of faith no longer held water. When my first wife died I was forced to relinquish much of my fundamemtalist dogma.. it was good for my soul to do it.. not that it came easy :)

10:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh Neva,
This is so spot on! The subtle changes in one's spiritual walk often allow them to pull farther and farther away before many of their brothers and sisters in Christ even notice and then the reach is so far. What a great picture analogy.

Rachel

1:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am praying too. There are so many who have fallen away. Some because we have been on the hurry and dunk-em and then move on schedule. Too too bad!
Good post, Sister


Jarrod

2:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have been caught up in that death spiral, falling away was so easy, coming back so difficult. Thank God for the prayers and continued efforts of my Christian brothers and sisters. You are right, we should never ever give up, and pray always.
Awesome post!

7:44 PM  
Blogger Lori said...

We have been going through the book of Hebrews in our Worship service on Sunday. I think your post speaks about people not being faithful til the end as in the book of Hebrews.

2:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Praying and hoping for restoration


Dan

11:03 AM  
Blogger Kathy said...

Ah, dear friend,

We have shared that pain and I continue to pray for our prodigals, especially those of our families.

It is a difficult time of "be still and know I am God," as we pray to the only One that can touch their hearts,drawing them back, pokin' at them until they awaken from their distant sleep so they can then come runnin' back to Him and us. We grow callouses on our knees and pain in our hearts, but God is faithful and His infinite Will is done as He heals that pain!!

Love you, G/F and we keep praying.

3:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are so many who have fallen away, I am not talking about those who simply no longer come to church but many have turned their backs on their faith and are living obviously faithless lives. Thank you for reminding me to pray for them.

Corinne

7:04 AM  
Blogger Liz Moore said...

I think even those of us who are doing all the "right things" can still sometimes feel like we are in a downward spiral. Thanks so much for your thoughts on this and your reminder to pray! Blessings.

9:41 PM  

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