Walk Away
“Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” -- Mark 6:10-11
Sometimes you just have to walk away. All the drama and the hurt and bad feelings that keep pounding at you will only destroy you in the end.
It’s a hard lesson to learn. In our faith, we are told to forgive and to do good to our enemies. That doesn’t mean to continue to allow Satan’s minions to destroy your peace. It means giving the situation to God and trusting that He will handle it in His time and in His way.
Forgiveness is hard. Truly it is. We want revenge. That’s our human nature. Sometimes the most kind thing we can do, the most forgiving thing we can do, is walk away. I learned a long time ago that I can’t make people like me or even care about me. I can’t turn someone’s heart into something that it is not. I can’t force someone to live a faith they claim but show no evidence of in their lives.
It’s like a drug addict that blames everyone but the person in the mirror for that addiction. We are called to search ourselves and get that plank out of our own eye. Then give it to God. Don’t let that addict’s finger pointing cause you to doubt yourself or your faith.
I am not a perfect person. I don’t claim to be. That is one of the many reasons I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. But I have reached a stage in life where the opinions of others no longer matter to me. I report to God. Period. I have searched myself. I fail Him every single day. That doesn’t mean I will continue to allow bullies to keep me on the defensive day after day.
I have washed my feet and walked away from their dirt. What about you? Are there people in your life who are toxic to you? Are there people who seek to destroy you? Give it to God and walk away. We are not meant to suffer abuse at their hands.
Trust God. If it is His will, they will change. But remember this too: We all have free will. We all have choices to make. A choice for anger, bitterness, jealousy, rage. It’s all there. Walk away and leave them to God. Forgive them from a distance. Love them from a distance. But walk away just the same.
