March 3 Spiritual Isolation

Deuteronomy 24:8-9 In cases of leprous diseases be very careful to do exactly as the priests, who are Levites, instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them,. Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam along the way after you came our of Egypt.

Miriam challenged Moses' spiritual leadership, and God struck her with leprosy and isolation outside the camp for seven days. For seven days only.

Smith makes these remarks in regard to the infection of sin, "When spiritual infection is in the air, the cure is the same as for the physically infected-cut them off! But here's the caution, not forever. ..It's not the person we are trying to get rid of, only the disease.

She had been my best friend in college, and after about five years apart, we reconnected. I was so glad to have her back in my life until she confessed a sinful relationship in which she was engaged. The joy of reconnection was soured by this news, and hung like a black cloud over the telephone - our main method of communication. Every time the phone rang, my stomach would start churning, and I felt that big lump forming in my throat.

Though I shared truth with her, and though she knew this sinful relationship was wrong, no change appeared on the horizon. Needless to say, I prayed and prayed over all of this. I loved her, but came to the realization that as long as I would continue the relationship, it was almost as if I became complicit in her sin. Finally, I told her that I could not continue to talk to her as long as she continued in the sin. I grieved as though a friend had died, but I also felt a measure of relief. I was out from under the weight of that ugliness.

I would like to say she repented, and all is well, but I can't. I tracked her down a couple of years ago, thank you google, and at the end of our conversation, she said, "I know I should find a church." Was I wrong to end the relationship? I don't think so; it did not move me toward God, and it did not appear that it was doing her much good either. Did God use the reconnection? Perhaps. It did appear that she was moved toward God by that reconnection, and I have to trust God about all of that.

I guess the point is, are our relationships moving us toward God or away? It is our responsibility to be light....and when the light has a bushel thrown over it, perhaps it is healthier spiritually to move that light away...at least for a while.