Vital Intercession

"Discernment is God's call to intercession, never to fault finding." Oswald has made that point before, but it bears repeating.

Here's the thought that struck me most profoundly today: "It is not likely that sin will interfere with our relationship with God, but sympathy will, sympathy with ourselves or with others which makes us say, 'I will not allow that thing to happen.'" Interesting that Oswald would say sympathy was a bigger danger to our relationship with God than sin. I'm trying to understand what he means by sympathy, and I think it is the same kind of sentiment that would lead us to say, "I deserve it," akin perhaps to self-pity. I have an idea of how life should go -- for me and for the people I love -- and when it detours from my sense of an acceptable plan or takes drastic, terrible turns, I start scrambling either to make sense of things or to make things make sense.

I have two friends who are simultaneously going through periods of intense, prolonged suffering. Both have asked me for advice. I have, after what constitutes for me some serious prayer, given it, and they have, for the most part, ignored it. So. I am left with a feeling of impotence. Here's what I'm getting from Oswald today: I care about them. Good. I cannot fix their problems. Good. I think they should be taking some actions which they are not. Fine. I sense that there is trouble ahead. Fine. My job is to pray and pray and pray and pray. Not to grow exasperated. Not to re-state the previous advice. They heard me. Not to fix or attempt to orchestrate a different outcome. I can't anyway, and that's God's job. When I pray, my confidence in him will grow, and I will be able to trust him with my friends' lives. My job is not to shape the future, and when I assume that kind of ridiculous responsibility, it is both an affront to God and a serious hindrance to any kind of relationship with him.

I need to pray more and fix less.