Resolver un conflicto con la Gracia de Cristo Jesús

Resolver un conflicto con la Gracia de Cristo Jesús

¿No odiamos cuando un conflicto sucede? Cuando de repente estamos hablando con alguien y las cosas se salen de control, se distorsionan y de repente estás teniendo el mayor dolor de cabeza en el mundo por algo que al principio parecía tan insignificante y pequeño.

Yo en particular detesto estas situaciones; es por eso que me encanta meditar en un pasaje bíblico muy en particular del libro de Mateo que siempre me ayuda como un ancla para el alma en este tipo de situaciones.

Mateo 18: 15-20 (Reina-Valera)

Cómo se debe perdonar al hermano

¹⁵ Por tanto, si tu hermano peca contra ti, ve y repréndele estando tú y él solos; si te oyere, has ganado a tu hermano.

¹⁶ Más si no te oyere, toma aún contigo a uno o dos, para que en boca de dos o tres testigos conste toda palabra.

¹⁷ Si no los oyere a ellos, dilo a la iglesia; y si no oyere a la iglesia, tenle por gentil y publicano.

¹⁸ De cierto os digo que todo lo que atéis en la tierra, será atado en el cielo; y todo lo que desatéis en la tierra, será desatado en el cielo.

¹⁹ Otra vez os digo, que si dos de vosotros se pusieren de acuerdo en la tierra acerca de cualquiera cosa que pidieren, les será hecho por mi Padre que está en los cielos.

²⁰ Porque donde están dos o tres congregados en mi nombre, allí estoy yo en medio de ellos.

En el primer versículo verán cómo se hace referencia a la palabra pecado en vez de ‘conflicto’ debido a que es el pecado lo que llega a crear un muro relacional y espiritual

entre usted y otra persona y que interfiere con el mandamiento de amarnos unos a otros,

sin embargo, lo que más me gusta de este pasaje es que nos aconseja a  no vociferar nuestros problemas con esa otra persona al mundo, sino que más bien lidiemos con ello ¡EN PRIVADO! nos remite a la esencia de cómo resolver un conflicto de manera armoniosa.

Pero ya que el corazón del hombre es lo que es, este pasaje no termina aquí, afortunadamente, nos aconseja sobre cómo seguir en caso de que el conflicto continúe.

Hay por lo menos dos herramientas que debemos tener en cuenta: la inteligencia y la sabiduría, no estoy diciendo que usted debe ‘salir corriendo’ a pedirle consejo a su vecino de 90 años cada vez que algo pasa, pero creo que somos lo suficientemente maduros como para discernir cuando una persona es lo suficientemente capaz de asesorarnos sin ningún tipo de malicia o parcialidad hacia nadie en particular.

Ahora, la exhortación final nos habla también de  una triste realidad: que los seres humanos somos criaturas testarudas y no importa cuánto nos esforcemos, algunas relaciones no van a funcionar, y es entonces cuando tenemos que aprender a alejarnos y dejar que el Señor transforme el corazón de esa persona.

Verán, al final la importancia de aprender a resolver un conflicto tiene que ver con la gracia eterna de Cristo y su perdón hacia nosotros. ¿Podemos atrevernos a aceptar su misericordia y gracia a diario y sin embargo, no atrevernos a hacer lo mismo con nuestros hermanos y hermanas?

¿Podemos ser tan hipócritas? Y si lo somos, entonces deberíamos ver profundamente en nuestras almas, porque apuesto a que el Espíritu Santo tendrá una cosa o dos que decirnos al respecto.

Conflict resolution and Grace

Conflict resolution and Grace

Don’t you just hate when conflict happens? When things get distorted and all of the sudden you’re having the biggest headache in the world over something that at the very beginning seemed so meaningless and tiny?

I, myself, hate these situations; that’s why I like to ‘stick’ myself to a very graceful passage in the book of Matthew that ALWAYS helps as an anchor for my soul.

Matthew 18: 15-20 (NIV)Dealing With Sin in the Church¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[b] sins,^[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be^[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[f] loosed in heaven.¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

On the very first verse refers to conflict as sin, why? Because it is creating a relational and spiritual wall between you and another person and that interferes with the commandment of loving one another, yet it tells you not to shout out your problems with that other person to the world but to rather try and work things through PRIVATELY! That’s why, this is one of my favorite passages, it sends us back to the relational essence of conflict resolutions: THE WHOLE PLANET DOES NOT NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE! But since the human heart it is what it is, this passage doesn’t end here fortunately and further advices us in case the conflict continues.

There are at least two tools we should take into consideration and those are intelligence and wisdom, therefore when a conflict persist we should get wiser people to help us over; I’m not saying you should run to your 90 year old neighbor but I think we’re big enough to discern when a person is wise enough to advise us without any malice or partiality towards anyone in particular. 

Now the final exhortation tells us about one sad truth: we humans are stubborn creatures and no matter how hard sometimes we try to maintain some relationships, it won’t work, and that’s when we must learn to walk away from it and let the Lord handle that person’s heart.

You see, at the end the importance of learning to resolve a conflict is all about Christ’s eternal grace and forgiveness towards us. Can we dare to accept His mercy and grace on a daily basis and yet won’t dare to do the same for our brothers and sisters?

Can we be such hypocrites? And if we are then, let’s look deep down into our souls because I bet the Holy Spirit will have a thing or two to convict us about. 

Noches inquietas

Noches inquietas

Ayer por la noche, fue mi última noche de 150 mg de nuestra 'querida' prednisona, no pude dormir en lo absoluto claro está, además del insomnio habitual y otros efectos secundarios desagradables que la mayoría de nosotros los pacientes autoinmunes ya conocemos, tenía demasiadas cosas pasando dentro de mi muy finito y humano cerebro; Mi cita médica programada para las 07:00 a.m. del día siguiente era, a la verdad, lo primero que me hacía ‘estallar’ debido a otros factores combinados junto con esto, como las molestias habituales de los pagos médicos, el papeleo del seguro de salud, etc.

Si me preguntasen cuál es la peor parte acerca de estas noches de insomnio, diría que el perder el tiempo pensando en las múltiples cosas de las cuales no tenemos control en lo absoluto.

Es divertido, sin embargo, que tratemos tan duramente de mantener el control de este tipo de eventos al hacer cosas triviales y mundanas como "desahogarnos con nuestros amigos más cercanos’’, siendo esto el patrón del grito más desesperado en busca de ayuda, sólo para que, al final, se encuentren ellos agotados emocionalmente y nosotros en un peor estado que antes; mi pobre amiga Nicole sabe una cosa o dos acerca de este patrón por cierto ¡lo siento mi dulce ardilla!

Ahora, ustedes están en la libertad de decirme que esto es una cuestión humana mundana que no debiese requerir ninguna connotación espiritual, pero, ¿es esto enteramente cierto?

Si por las pasadas 8 horas de haber estado despierto, solamente te probaste  a ti mismo el estar más ansioso y estresado que antes, entonces, ¿por qué no venir a los pies del Único que puede traerte verdadero descanso? El hecho es que enfermos o no, siempre habrá un momento en nuestras vidas cuando el sueño se nos escapará, la vida desencadenará sus gatillos estresantes y nos disparará, y la verdad es que no tenemos la capacidad humana para saciar nuestras almas inquietas cuando esto ocurre.

Hemos tratado diferentes fórmulas para cuando esto ocurre, ya sea hablar con un amigo, usando los medios sociales, comer en exceso, o alguna otra forma de compensación temporal, que, al final, sólo nos devolverá al punto de partida principal: Jesús, Él (te lo aseguro), es el único que puede rebosar la copa de tu alma por completo. Verán, no importa que tan agitado se vislumbre tu día o que tan planificado, al final es sólo el Señor que establece los resultados que necesitamos para nuestro día a día o noches inquietas.

Salmos 37: 5-6

Encomienda a Jehová tu camino,
Y confía en él; y él hará.

Exhibirá tu justicia como la luz,
Y tu derecho como el mediodía.

Restless nights

Restless nights

Last night (hopefully), my final night on 150 mg of our ‘dear’ prednisone, I couldn’t sleep at all, besides the usual insomnia and other nasty side effects most of us autoimmune patients are used to, I just had too much going on inside my finite and very human brain about life; my doctor’s appointment scheduled for 7:00 a.m. next day was, honestly, the first thing popping in and out of my brain cells due to other factors combined alongside with it, like the money and health insurance annoyances we are all very much familiar with.

If you were to ask me what is the part that I hate the most about these sleepless nights?The waste of thinking things through, that at the end we know we have no control over it. Funny though, we try so hard to maintain control of such events by doing trivial and mundane things like ‘letting things out’ to our closest friends, as the most desperate cry for help, just to have them tired and you in an even worst stage than before, my poor pal Nicole knows a thing or two about this by the way –sorry my sweet squirrel.

Now, you may say this is just human and no spiritual connotation should be given to it, but truly?  If for the past 8 hours you have been wide wake only to be proven more stress than before then, why not to meditate in the Only One that can bring real rest?

The fact is that whether sick or not, there will always be a time in our lives when sleep will go away, life is going to trigger and the truth is, we have no human capacity to quench our restless souls, we have tried these different formulas before of talking to a friend, using social media, over eating, or some other form of temporary compensation, that, at the end, can only slap us right on our faces and shout the truth we all ready now: Go back to Jesus, He Will replenish you entirely.

You see, no matter how hectic, no matter the planning, the anticipation to the things one person must do or not, at the end it is only the Lord that can set out pats straight and come out with the results we need for our everyday life and restless nights.

Psalm 37: 5-6Commit your way to the Lord;trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,your vindication like the noonday sun.

“Be Still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

“Be Still and know that I am God”Psalm 46:10 

You know what's funny about this verse? Just like with almost every bible character, we tend to be called by God according to one verse that we cannot see ourselves relating to. I wish, for example, I could boast about being our dear Mary on Luke 10: 38-42, that could go quite close to that image on Psalm 46:10 but I’m not and yet He calls me out by it every single day of my life.

I was born on this earth as ‘plain, old, and stubborn like a mule Ruth’. My personality was always fast, speedy, a million miles per hour, always in a rush 'to please the Lord' with my doing, because that's what you do as a Christian, right?

What you're told a thousand times: the more you do, the more it shows to the world what an amazing Christian soul you're developing into. That can definitely give others to talk about all about you and your ‘functional religion stage’, But oh so little, my friends, would others dare to point out to the more important being in the universe, Him!

Until one day, Him, The All Mighty God hits you with a wall of His power and reality, all of the sudden there's nothing left of you and your previous and very legalistic misconceptions about Who He is and what you can do ‘to always stand on His good side’.

Let me further explain through our friend Job from the bible, now from the very beginning of his life this man was consider as the most righteous person on earth and yet we see a man who was far from being perfected to God’s perfect purpose, which was for Job to recognize that the Lord has the power over all life and does as it pleases Him ultimately for His Honor, Glory and giving you the amazing honor of using you as a wonderful Bessel that’s going to reach its most perfected stage once glorified at the majesty of His splendor and Glory.

Now, I’m not saying here that every case is the same and every person following Jesus will lose every material thing just like Job did to be sanctified and even if we do, believe me: Christ will always be worth it my friends.

I’m here to tell you that just the same way Jesus paid and took all of our pain and struggles upon His Godly shoulders, He did it with the purpose to give you something so much better than this temporary stage of despair and pain, for this too, shall pass my friends.

In my case, this process, this struggle, has not yet been diagnosed: an unknown autoimmune disease that has cause major health issues in my body for more than five years, and everyone (diagnosed or not yet), I bet can relate to the endless visits to the doctors, the constant change on the prednisone dosages and resources expend to tell by experts that they don’t know what it is but they’ll keep trying.

This is why I feel God has placed this desire to share with as many of you out there the amazing encoring words and support, even from afar from the gospel.

To tell you that we are not alone, He is with us, even in the worst of pain, in the solitude of the night or the quite of the hospitals, Jesus is there, embrace Him and learn to listen to His voice first and the rest will fall into place.

Like I said, this has not been magical, my life has not change with the snap of God’s fingers, this has been painful, slow, not to easy to deal with or cope, but God’s mercy and His love endures forever and He never walks out on His children.

This is just a brief introduction to my journey, please feel free just to let it all out, and don’t worry about ‘surprising me’ with your thoughts or feelings, after all I wasn’t born a Christian loving girl.

Love,

Ruth Indhira ‘His Daughter’