"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction."
~Prov 1:7~
Sometimes God places difficult people in our life. Some people attract drama. The very sound of their voice on the phone means there is a catastrophy somewhere. Some individuals never grow up. They never mature. Their life is filled with poor decisions. And, if this person is your family member, often the result of their poor decisions affect you. What do you do? How do you help someone that will be back in the same situation 6 months or a year from now?
I'm still learning the answer to these questions myself. But I'll tell you what I've learned so far:
Set healthy boundaries. Pray about what GOD would have you do to help, within reason for what you are ABLE to do. Be firm. Don't be pushed into doing more than you can. Remember your other obligations God has filled your life with. If you exhaust yourself on 1 area, your life & those in it will become off balance. YOU will be the next one in crises.
Encourage self-help. It's tough love to make a person work themselves out of the mess they created. We as Christians, daughters, mothers, nurses, nuturers want to "fix" everything. But the best lessons are experience. If you bail them out, you may be cheating them out of the lesson God had prepared for them. It might cripple them &- render them unable to handle the next difficult circumstance they face. Go for guided help rather than totally assuming the help.
Give it all to God. Labor in prayer over it, for Him to open doors for this person & so order your steps. Ask God to supernaturally bless this person ON YOUR BEHALF. He knows the turmoil of your heart for them. You are not the Savior of the universe. . . .But HE is. Let Him work His wonder.
