Friday, June 20, 2014
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My wife has enjoyed a search for her roots, you know, as we have time. There's one particular relative on her father's side that was really giving her a hard time. He's not alive any more, so he didn't mean to. But we followed the trail that went back to her great-grandfather, old Herbert Alonzo.
Now, each generation supplied some clues in this search for this particular relative, but old great-grandpa Herbert? He was no help at all. I said, "Of course, he's been dead for 50 years." No, that wasn't the problem. It's what he did or didn't do when he was alive that was the problem. We couldn't get to that generation prior to Old Herbert. That's where we need to find the person we were looking for.
See, Old Herbert was known to everyone for being tight lipped, and whenever he was asked what his background was, he'd simply say, "I'm just Yankee." He didn't talk about his Mom much. He didn't talk about his Dad. He didn't talk about anything much. And everybody, including my wife, remembers that the man never said much. That apparently frustrated the people around him. It even frustrated one particular descendant who never even met the man.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Communicating Where You Come From."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 2:18. It's the beginning of man and woman. "The Lord God said, (Now, Adam's all alone in the garden. He's got a great world), 'But it is not good' the Lord says, 'for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'"
Notice those words, "It is not good for the man to be alone." This is not only the beginning of marriage and the beginning of family. It's really the beginning of human relationships. Adam could not and should not be alone any more. So God begins to create a relationship to end that aloneness. Unfortunately, too many people are around the people they love, but they're not with the people they love. It could be that they don't communicate.
Maybe your family and your friends feel that way about you, "Well, he doesn't communicate much." "She hardly ever lets us know how she's feeling." Well, that's sad. And that's not the way it was meant to be. Like Old Herbert, he didn't communicate much and no one knew where he came from.
Maybe you're that way much of the time. And those who love you have no idea where you're coming from. They feel alone, and it's not good for us to be alone God said. We were created to be in touch with each other; to relieve each other's loneliness and isolation. But some of us are like all frozen inside.
Maybe you grew up around someone who was a non-communicator and you know how frustrating that was for you. Isn't it time someone broke this frustrating cycle of silence? Why don't you begin to pour out the deepest feelings you have to God. Don't come to Him all formal, religious, cool and uncommunicative. Not with the God who knows all about you. Find one person who you can reach out to for help; someone in your family, a close friend, and tell that person you want to open up but it's hard and you need their help. You need their patience. You need to know you can trust them.
Then keep some lists. Begin to really share where you're coming from. The people who love you are affected by what's going on inside of you, whether you tell them or not. See, it's just they have no idea why you are who you are, because you won't help them understand you. They need to know your story. They need to know your feelings that are behind how they see you being all the time.
Haven't you been alone long enough? You know, in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ you have found the one person who can open you up with His unconditional love. Why don't you let Him? Just ask the descendants of great-grandpa Herbert. It's really frustrating not to know where a loved one is coming from. Your silence hurts most of all the people you love the most. Come on; tell them where you are coming from.