In the midst of war, a country will do it’s best to cut off the supply line of its opponent. If they can overtake the line in which that country is receiving food, weapons and general supply for their army, it won’t be long before the victim of this tactic has very little choice but to surrender.

The same is true in the wild. When a predator and his group are after a herd, they pursue the outer members and try to isolate them from their stronger counterparts. When the victim has been cut off from his herd, he is extremely vulnerable to being eliminated.

This is not a new tactic or one that go away any time soon. The enemy of God has been using this same scheme since the Garden of Eden. He loves to try to cut off our supply, or even cause strife and division within the herd of Christ to begin to beat down and chip away at a single member’s resolve. If he can just get us alone, he can really pour on the guilt and self pity. I can attest to the temptation to dwell in your sorrow. If you have been hurt by another member of the church, it is easy to start thinking that the Church is a lost cause, or that the Church will never be what God envisioned on this side of Heaven. But here’s the thing, as long as you are working with people, you will be disappointed a time or two. The other part of it all is if you are working with a church that has new believers coming “in to the fold” on a regular basis, then you will encounter a vast array of walks. There are people who are saved by Jesus Christ who still walk around reacting out of the pain they have endured in their life. There are people who are saved by Jesus Christ who think that being a sinner was their only flaw and now they are good — no new growth necessary. Then there are even people who are saved by Jesus Christ who, despite their best efforts, offend you. You think they should know better, but they don’t. When you encounter these people — which is all the time — here is something to remember. It’s not about them. I was reminded today that my issues and struggles with certain people has more to do with letting God teach me about how to love that personality type than about that person. I knew this, but was starting to lose focus and let that person dominate my thoughts about the situation and not what God had to say about it. I was trying to operate out of my own strength as I focused on the person and how I could maybe change my reaction to them. This is not the way. My time with God should have been asking him why this situation bothers me so much and what in my life needs to change. Instead I complained and prayed what to do to make this person treat me better. It’s not about them. Sure, they have their stuff, but it is not my job to reveal it to them and Holy Spirit isn’t going to gossip to me about others’ issues.

One of the ways to insure that you don’t get cut off from truth is to seek wise council and don’t hold things in. We need safe people around that love us and know us that we can be honest with about stuff we are dealing with. The Enemy loves to isolate us in our own mind and blow things out of proportion. Godly friends around you can help keep things in perspective. Also, waiting. Waiting for all the noise of the Enemy to clear and the voice of the Holy Spirit to become audible. There are situations that it seems you are waiting in the pain for a word from Holy Spirit. I urge you to lean on your friends for prayer on your behalf and wait patiently for the answer. It will come.