Friction Creates Synergy To Advance God's Kingdom
Synergy: the interaction of two or more agents or forces, so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. ( from Oxford languages ) I believe synergy is the result of two people working out their differences together.
The person who is least like you and sees things so differently may be your best asset for your future purpose in God's Kingdom.
I see many relationships that are now clashing becoming flashing "two-edged" swords forged together by the Spirit to do exploits and bring great devastation to the camp of the enemy. I saw relationships that seemed totally against each other, being welded together as God's love was dealing a fatal blow to their egos and "the way I see things." God was forging them into 'two-edged' swords to sever roots of strongholds of division over families, churches, cities,
and nations.
Get Ready--The Person You Don't Like May Become Your Best Friend
Through unparalleled troublesome times, many opposing relationships will be challenged to synergize together, forging relationships similar to "Jonathan and David" and "Ruth and Naomi" to experience covenant relationships that will affect the course of history.
Those in clashing relationships that differ in their convictions like day and night, but are willing to continue to walk together in love, will ultimately be the ones who discover the many facets of truth in God's word and learn what truly pleases the King of Kings. I am not talking about what is clear cut in the word of God regarding sin. I am talking about those many gray areas that have been splitting churches and dividing friends forever.
Those who hang out with friends who seem to see eye-to-eye on everything and who never disagree, will not grow much this coming year. There is going to be a shaking and sharpening in all of us. The person you don't like may have the gift of healing for your sickness or affliction. As a result, the command to "love one another" will become a matter of life or death for some churches and individuals.
Have you ever met a person who seems to have an edge to them? "You use steel to sharpen steel and one friend sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17
Iron Sharpens Iron, Stones Smooth Stones and People Grind People!
God may use the person who seems to irritate you to sharpen you. In reality, this person is your friend. He knows they are destined to help conform you into the image of Jesus Christ--God's goal for your life.
I sense the enemy has been working overtime trying to convince many that they no longer need the irritation and grinding of certain people in their life. Be careful, the Lord may still be sharpening you.
The grinding may not take so long as your glaring differences clash and cut away at each other's views that are usually at best, a little off-centered from the Lord's perspective. "I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way I work. For as the sky soars high above the earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work and the way I think is beyond the way you think." Isaiah 55:8-11 ( Message Bible )
Misunderstanding Kills Relationships and Ministries More Than Anything. Let's Talk It Over.
In many conflicts I have found the longer I stuck it out during disagreements and personality differences, the easier it became to understand the person and why they are the way they are. The grinding, slowly but surely gave way to a binding in the Spirit, where God could actually use us together "with" our differences more than if we were left by ourselves and our own convictions.
"With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love." Ephesians 4:2 Forbear: to control oneself when provoked. ( Webster Dictionary )
To forbear means to hold oneself up against; to put up with; endure; suffer.
This picture of forbearing one another may look at first like two people are standing up against each other in opposition. But they are actually holding themselves up against each other in order to hold each other up. Their body language is saying:
"I'm not going to let you go. You are not getting away from me just because we disagree. Even though you may be causing me to suffer right now, I know God is somehow using you in my life to grind me and sharpen me for a purpose. I am going to keep putting up with you and forgiving you until I find out God's purpose in all of this." ( Let me clarify that any kind of abuse in relationships is wrong. )
Have you ever wondered how long you have to put up with someone who strongly opposes your convictions and disagrees with most everything you believe? God clearly tells us how long. Ephesians 4:13, "Until we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ!" That is just how long we need to forbear one another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace.
Many in difficult relationships, who realize their "straining" is being used for "training" for "reigning," will endure and become razor-sharp fatal weapons advancing God's Kingdom.
