A Time Of Sadness

SUN., APR. 27, 1986, 6:12 AM (CDT)
FARM, STUDY

This is a time of sadness for the church of which you are a part. There must be a decision as to whether your minister, Duane, remains on in his leadership role or whether he must seek another congregation to lead. It is a time of genuine divideness, and even I, the Holy Spirit, must speak on both sides of the issue, as I did on the issue of women’s role in the governance of a church.

This is a situation in which there need not be any loss of spiritual “power”, yet there will be, humans being who they are (even as creations of a wise God). I’ll speak first of the divorce, which is a very early human invention to deal with “the two not becoming one” or “the one becoming two again.” Marriage is an important but tricky relationship. When the ceremony is done under the auspices of the church I usually am asked to be a cementer of the union, and then it is declared, “What God has joined together…” Well, as is My bent, I rarely work miracles, but I can work with the spirits of each to form the spirit of a marriage and of a family.

This spirit then must work in conjunction with the individual spirits. If it continues to grow and exist in harmony with the individual spirits (which remain, of course), the oneness develops to overlay the twoness, which still is present, of course. If it does not grow as it should, the individualities may prevail, the united spirit is challenged, and the union dies, slowly or quickly. This is a time of sadness, but I have created a regenerative world, and it does allow for a situation of new union, for either or both of those whom come to divorce.

It is a time when each of the individual spirits is challenged, and therefore can plateau, regress, or advance in relationship to Me. This does not mean that I approve of divorce. It is just a recognition and acceptance of the fact that the created spirit of marriage may or may not prevail over the individual spirits that it joins, rather than replaces. And in any situation My primary goal is to help with the growth of spirit. “Out of the mud grows the lotus”. Yes, indeed!

The circumstance in the church is in parallel. Duane has been a spiritual leader and has helped to bring about a “Presbyterian spirit” from the individual spirits in the congregation… not replacing these, but existing and growing in harmony with these individual ones. Now the divorce and the evidence of a quick new union has offended some individual spirits, some genuinely, some in a more hypocritical way. The spirit of the church, with Duane as leader, is clearly being challenged. It can plateau, it can regress (even disintegrate), or it can grow from the ashes of its fiery challenge. This, too, is a time of sadness.

Yet a time of growth cannot long remain a time of sadness. If the Presbyterian spirit can grow again, with Duane’s leadership, it shall emerge in a new form, even that of a smaller congregation, but one ready to function and grow again, because it has reconstituted spirit.

Conversely, you may be one to help decide that this spirit can grow best under the leadership of another, while Duane’s leadership could be more effective with another congregation. This could not long remain a time of sadness, for the spirit would grow again, and the congregation would increase because of that spirit.