I've been warned plenty of times before, that when we see people really growing in the understanding and knowledge of God, and see really exciting things happening for God's kingdom, Satan is not happy, and we will probably find that we will meet more opposition which will really challenge us in what we believe and stand firm in. In all honesty, it feels like our cell group is at that stage, where there are some people are just going great guns for God, but suddenly others seem to be doing all they can to put obstacles up in the way to stop the group from being able to focus on God's word. It's like Satan is trying to do all he can to cause disunity in order to put a stop to some of the exciting things that we're seeing happening there.
After this week's cell group, we would've spent 3 weeks just meeting to try and 'decide' on the future of our group, but in the 2 weeks that have passed by so far, i was really disappointed that the bible didn't even feature. There were some in the group who felt that it was more important to allow everyone to have a chance to voice their opinion rather then spend some time in the Bile, so that we could know the will of God. There are a few of us in the group who are trying to put the Bible back on the agenda of what we do in our cell group time, but there are others who don't see what all the fuss is about the Bible, especially when it comes to application to our lives. We're much better off sharing about our experiences so we can have a time that is more practical to our lives.
It's really been an issue that's weighed heavily on my mind of late. How to be able to respond to this situation in a godly and loving way. The easy and tempting thing to do is to respond with my emotion at the time. But i know that that's not the right or loving thing to do, and will most likely cause more tension and disunity. There are lots of factors that have led to the current situation, so have been praying for lots of wisdom in knowing how to best approach it. Last Sunday, i was able to have a good chat with one of the cell group leaders, and hopefully this week, we'll be using the Bible as the thing that guides our planning meeting.
For those praying, please pray for the group, that we won't let Satan get a foothold in causing disunity, that God will be the centre of our planning, and that what we do will be helping the group to be growing in their knowledge and understanding of God.