walking my faith
11/21/10
I don’t always say everything I’m thinking in (Sunday School), because I already feel like I probably talk too much. And I do have a fear of being offending to other people, or other people just thinking of me as being… mouthy, I guess. What I didn’t bring up today was, “What are the things that we want to run away from, instead of living in that moment? What are we not facing or not walking through?”
It’s not just the big issues in our lives that we don’t want to face, like cancer, losing your job, or family disharmony. We also avoid so many small things, every day and every week.
It’s not reaching out to someone because of a fear of being rejected or fear of saying the wrong thing.
It’s knowing you should reach out to someone who is hurting or going through a hard time in their life, but only offering help in word and not in deed. Maybe you don’t want to add another complication to your life, and you know if you just send an email or a note saying, “Let me know if you need help,” that they won’t ask for it, because we typically don’t.
It’s not listening to that voice inside you that tells you what to do, because it takes effort and it takes follow-through and it takes the planning part of it that we were talking about in class.
These are ways in which we do not live the moment, we do not walk through it. Instead, we turn away from the opportunity that was presented to us: to minister, to uplift, to ease a burden, to help.
There are lots and lots of times when I see something and I’ll say, “Oh, I’ve got to ask so-and-so about this, if they’d like to do that with me.” Or, “I should tell so-and–so about this great program that’s available for her and her situation.” But I don’t do it.
It’s that little voice that speaks these ideas to us, but we ignore it and we let it go and we let it drop. We don’t following through. And maybe that was God telling you, “Hey, that person needs you!” And that you need them, and you need more people in your life, and you need to be a person of action and a person who walks their faith instead of just thinking their faith.
I need to get my faith past my thought life and into my actual life, and into the action of my life.
It’s also keeping your mouth shut when God is compelling you to speak. Because you’re afraid to say too much, say the wrong thing, or be annoying, or be perceived in anything but the best light.
♦
steadily skipping stones 
I understand completely I have a very hard time with this too. I don’t have an answer sorry. But I have your back
I know you do! It’s getting better – at least I’m working on it 🙂
I never looked at it this way! Time always comes as a handy excuse when you want to avoid something. And in our heart,we always know that we are avoiding the issue.
I am not very good when people need help – I am awkward and tongue-tied, I don’t know what to do or say, I’m emotionally uncomfortable. That is a major reason that I avoid “being nice” and going that extra mile to really help. It’s a reason, but not a good excuse, though, huh?
Same here! I think, am I capable of giving help? am I, emotionally strong enough to give help?
To me, this goes back to your “Being Nice” post. This is the image of nice to me, ACTING on all those good impulses. All the ‘nice’ people I know are people who actively make others know they care.
That’s what I thought, too. Today’s post is my thoughts on this journal entry, but it was getting too long, and the topic was kind of different. So I broke it in half.
I’m one of those people who are uncomfortable accepting help from others. It makes me uncomfortable, and I hate being fussed over. I know how it makes me feel, so I try to be sensitive whenever I offer help to anyone else. Just knowing that someone is there to offer help is sometimes the biggest help of all.
That’s a good point, and I’m like that as well. I would rather people offer their help over the phone or email (so I can easily say “thanks, but no thanks”), but I can’t help but feel that doing that myself is not enough. Maybe it’s because I do it with the hope that THEY will say “thanks, but no thanks”, since I feel so uncomfortable with the emotions of loss, etc.
Still, if we both feel that way, maybe lots of others do, too. So, maybe the thing is being willing to step up if they do say, “thanks, here’s what you can do…”
I think it’s pretty common to feel as we do. I like to think that if I really needed help, I would be able to ask for it. Maybe we’re afraid of appearing weak, or we don’t want to impose? Or maybe we’re afraid when we do ask, they’ll say no? Hmmm . . .
I think it’s probably a combination of things. When I was replying before, I had a feeling/sort of image in my head that bundled up a whole lot of things into one. You know when you have a formed opinion, but not a ready answer for someone who asks you to explain your opinion? It’s kind of like that. I think my reasons change depending on the circumstance – some people I want help from and some I don’t, some situations I want help for and some I don’t. Partly it’s that in tough situations, I just want to have to worry about myself – if someone tries to help, then I often feel that I have to help them back – acknowledging their help, thanking them, sharing my feelings and dealing with theirs. That sounds selfish, but I just want to be left alone to grieve, without having to worry about everyone else around me, too. Mostly, though, I think I’m so used to being alone, doing alone, that I feel very uncomfortable imposing or asking for any help.
I understand completely. I’m a lot like that, too.