I have a friend who has been in and out of my life since adolescence. Though I have enjoyed her company at times, there comes an inevitable day when I must pull away from her to restore my peace and sanity. No matter how I help her, her desperate situations and stories have no end.
It starts out innocent enough. A lunch with mutual friends, an online chat. Soon her adult daughter needs a ride home from an appointment 10 miles away. Her new kitten needs specialty food from the pet store on a snowy, winter night. Now the same adult daughter and her boyfriend need to use my clothes washer. Finally I am picking up my friend at midnight from the hospital and fending off her verbal persuasions and manipulations to taxi her to another for the pain medications the first one refused to give her. It was this night, as I left a muttering, ungrateful person to sulk in her living room, that I was done.
When I learn who I am in Christ and begin hearing Him more clearly, I can better discern where to put my efforts. Not every need and desire of others is my job to satisfy. Not every person is mine to friend or even help. It isn’t my aim in life to choke in the smoke of a fire I have not been called to fight. I want to do the thing God has for me to do. He calls, He equips and He guides me in His good work. And if I listen and wait for His directives, I may notice His signs of caution as well, like blaring smoke detectors to keep me from getting burned.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
Meeting God at the Park 