Acclimating to Elevation (Part 3)

This is the final part of three part series. Feel free to go back and read their other two parts. They will help this part make more sense.

WORD OF WARNING:

As you travel up a mountain, the air becomes thinner. When people go up with you who weren’t suppose to and who didn’t prepare, they will struggle to breathe and can eventually become dead weight and can’t help you at all. Have you every carried someone that was dead weight? They are heavy! So, you’re now left doing all the work while also having to carry them. What does that look like? You’re always pouring out…always giving advice…always having to rescue them…always having to defend your newness…constantly being judged if you make a mistake because “You’re suppose to be a Christian now.” It’s draining!

And if you carry dead weight too long you become exhausted too fast, too soon…you lose strength and you risk not finishing the journey.

So, if you’ve gotten to this point and are ready to start preparing for the changing of conditions in your life and want to know who can or can’t go:

·Pray and ask the Lord to show you those whom you need to begin distancing from. But also ask him those that should go with you because you don’t want to leave them behind. God’s decision on who these people are has nothing to do with position, rank, ecomonic status, etc. God is Alpha and Omega and knows the totality of every person therefore he knows what you need in someone as you begin to elevate. Those friendships are the ones that are draining. It’s a give and receive friendship where each person pours into the friendship.

·Ask him to help you. Ask him for strength and strategy.

·Set boundaries and stick to them. Many will distance themselves simply because your lives will start to go in different directions, your interest aren’t the same anymore, and/or you want to spend your time in different places and doing different things. That “organic” distance is perfectly oka\

·If you find that you need to have a conversation, do so with grace and humility…release them with grace and humility. I don’t believe the Lord would lead you to discontinue a friendship or relationship in a way that is dishonoring to him. I understand their are situations such as physical abuse, where you need to just get away and by all means please do so! But in friendships where our lives are simply going in different directions, please ensure that you have the conversation with grace and humility.

Last note: When preaching this, one of my church members brought something to my attention. She said that while I was preaching, she wondered if she was a part of someone’s community and they will decide to distance from her? And if so, how would she respond. She made an excellent point. It could be that there are others who need to distance themselves from us because we are not ordained by God to continue in close relationship with them. If so….that’s okay. We should also ensure that we respond to that with grace and humility.