Is there such a thing? I have found it only in one place:
The scriptures.
In the scriptures are stories of men and women put into
extreme circumstances and I would say in almost every case, it was not the
person’s choice but a result of the intention of a sovereign God. What I have
come to know is that it is in the darkest of moments, we see the most clear and
it is usually a vantage point that is reached by being swept along by an
invisible hand that causes a forced result from what perhaps we should have or
ought to have done ourselves. In my case, there were years I spent in frozen
and suspended animation fearing the possibility of making the wrong decision…but
for God. He led me from indecision to having little choice in the matter; and
the way of return is shut. Should I have ever wanted to return to that place,
it would not be possible. This in itself is my proof for a loving God who cared
enough for me to force a way that had no other option. God does not allow
options when it comes to His will although some might say so. So what do we do?
We fight to maintain an allegiance to no other than to God and the words and
promises we are convinced He has spoken to us.
Isn’t this the true spirit of forsaking all for the Master ? It is a
well documented phenomena in dysfunctional religious groups that separation
from family ties deemed by the leaders to be dangerous and satanic is reported
across a wide spectrum of these nefarious organizations. What is really being
done is not separating from those who believe differently. More often than not,
it is an action that further galvanizes members to a leader’s influence – in
most cases God really has nothing to do with it, it is simply leaders trying to
protect their economic interests – follow the money as they say. Yet when one
decides to cling to words believed to be sourced in God, there is inevitable
pain and even broken-heartedness. It is
guaranteed.
OUR FOCUS IS KEY
What should be our focus in times of testing and trial? God.…Nothing
else. In fact this reality is the
manifest presence of the true will of
God. No matter what you have heard from any leader take it from me, the true
will of God is never by the hand of any man (Pastor, Elder or self proclaimed
Apostle, Prophet, etc..blah, blah,blah) but it is a route we never could have
imagined or engineered – friend, it is not supposed to be. In that true path
lies elation and, if the truth be told, grisly horror where all the strength
and personal fortitude we could muster melts away like hot wax. You see in the
presence of the Almighty even the mountains melt. We find ourselves lying as
dead men on the floor like cordwood and it is there we begin again. It is not a
process of achievement and attainment as some dysfunctional groups propose and where the bar is set continually higher
for the member of the group. No, counter to the position of some dysfunctional
religious groups, God does not build elite societies as models of His Kingdom
where the gilded look upon the tarnished with disgust. No, God brings us to a
place where all strength and even ability has met the floor and shattered like
a vessel dropped in the Sahara.
A VALID QUESTION
You might ask ‘Why’? The only answer I can provide is God
will not give His honor and praise to another so the vessels he will use must
be emptied completely, ground to powder and reformed. Yet in that reforming is the life and the
direction we sought; it is only through the fiery furnace can the bonds that
hold us be burned off. It is in those times we learn God. In my own
personal journey I have seen dark
caverns of grief and have dwelt in places of pain and heartache but I have come
to know now that is what God desired for me. Does that surprise you? Can a
loving God cause us to live in circumstances that no one in their right mind
would choose? Oh yes, and let me fill you in on a secret : it has always been
so. The reason for such pathways is to confirm one thing: we do something for
the right reason. Because God is sovereign it is in the journey
we take that we eventually bow to the plan and power of the Almighty…Notice
that I did NOT say choose.
LET'S BE CLEAR: Are we to live passively?
I must be clear here because many within a dysfunctional religious group have this mentality and may have even heard
from those who lead them to be passive and accept their lot as the will of God.
You see, DRGs teach passivity and prey on indecision and fear warning those who
begin to think for themselves that they are entering into ‘deception’. This is
a cheap ploy used to disarm the person from any sense of personal
accountability and deferment of one’s life to the Master who bought them.
Friend, your leader did not die on the cross for you and chances are they are
filling their own pockets from your ‘obedience’. I cannot say it any clearer – you have every
right to question any teaching, in fact we are mandated by the scriptures
themselves to test the spirits to see if they are of God. What holds you for
the most part is the darkest of forces:
fear. Yet the Bible is clear that perfect love casts out all fear. We
are not to live in fear and if we do, we have not submitted to God but
succumbed to this world system and the master of it.
WAKE UP O SLEEPER: LOVE NEVER FAILS
To those in toxic groups, if I might say it bluntly: wake
up. Time and loved ones are slipping
away and you are changing for the worse. Let me ask you a question: If you have
a loved one who you no longer communicate with because of a difference in
beliefs, would that man or woman you so quickly have set aside die in your
place? Would they give their own life that you might live? Now the next
question, would your leader do the same? It is a stark question but nonetheless
one that demands an answer. Jesus laid down His life for us, our Mother and
Father and our spouse would as well but
I have my doubts anybody else would – especially a leader for a DRG. I would
gladly and without hesitation die for my daughters and my son, their spouses
and their children. From the day they turned aside from Vicki and I, there is
not a day we do not long for them and wait patiently and hopefully for their
return. We believe in a sovereign God and we believe in them as well. We saw and still bear witness to what was
forged in them by us. Love never fails only grows stronger and in its testing
it is proven and so called genuine and pure – this is the key attribute that
reflects the Savior. I and my wife have been profoundly changed by the darkness
and pain we have experienced – but we are the better for it. We hope to one day
see our reflection in the eyes of our children because we have no doubt that
one day it will happen, in this world or the next…it is only a matter of time.
A LAST APPEAL FOR SANITY
Friend, if you are ‘in the dark’ perhaps it is not the enemy
of your souls at all, it is not the disfavor of those who lead you, it is the
Hand of the Almighty moving you along unto conclusion, redemption and into His
perfect will. Do not be afraid to stand and face the storm, the dungeon or the
lash; the fact is there are more people than you know that will be there to
support your decision to no longer be a part of the madness; they are ready and
at the door and all is needed is a word uttered. These others that perhaps you
have excluded from your life for reasons that may be clear to you or at least
you can state why are still there, they will always be there to come to your
support and stand with you in your decision. Why? Because it is all about something that is
truly godly, it is about love:
Love is patient, love
is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act
unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into
account a wrongsuffered, does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love
never fails…
‘Dark’ Light…oh yes
it exists, it is in its essence when God is very closely leading you, it is the shadow
of His wings.