Not This Time (46 page)

5. NINA will do anything to anyone for money. What are your thoughts on that? Have you ever been tempted to bend your principles to get what you wanted?
⁵

6. Beth feels torn about helping Sara when the beneficiary is a man she considers evil.
⁶
Have you experienced torn loyalties? How did you work through them?

7. Darla has committed terrible acts, but through her own choices, she makes an effort to be a better person. And through grace she is redeemed.
⁷
Do you believe that no one is beyond redemption? That everyone can be redeemed? Why or why not?

8. Beth has always protected Sara. Now Sara and she are at deep odds, and Sara distances herself from Beth and won’t explain why.
⁸
Have you been in this position? Have you trusted the judgment of the one distancing and been bruised and hurt because of it? Did you accept the distance decision in the absence of a reason? How did you resolve it? Did it resolve?

9. At one point, Beth feels lost and afraid and forced to step into the lions’ den.
⁹
Have you ever felt that way? What gave you the strength to do what needed doing? Was it as bad as you expected? How did you cope?

10. Joe doesn’t like to talk about his past. He’s ashamed of it. After he does discuss it, he would naturally perceive slights that just aren’t there—the result of his feelings about himself. The remnants of that shame he’d carried with him growing up.
¹⁰
What remnants of your past are you carrying with you? Are they constructive or destructive? What must be reconciled to put them to rest in the past?

11. People who know Beth well regard her with suspicion when Robert disappears. When a similar situation arises with another, Beth refuses to suspect and considers that person innocent only to later discover that person was guilty.
¹¹
Have you been a victim of misplaced suspicion or misplaced your trust in another? How did it impact you and your other relationships?

12. One of God’s promises is to turn what evil is intended to harm us into good.
¹²
Beth and Joe experience this in several ways. Have you had an experience where someone did something intending it be harmful to you, but it was turned and used for good?

1.
To see what the Bible says about these things, you can begin by reading the following scriptures from the New International Version: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4).

2.
“She gave this name to the L
ORD
who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’ ” (Genesis 16:13).

3.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

4.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39).

5.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

6.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).

7.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Hebrews 13:5).

8.
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

9.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

10.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

11.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

12.
“ ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them” (Genesis 50:20–21).

Dear Readers,

At some point in our lives, many, if not most of us, have been betrayed. We’ve also experienced torn loyalties. Situations where we must act, and no matter what we do, someone is hurt. And many if not most of us have been falsely accused of saying and doing things we did not do.

These are the challenges raised in
Not This Time
that had to be addressed as well as the physical challenges of danger and deception. When we try to live seeing the good in others, it’s often difficult for us to accept that there are those who just embrace the bad because they choose to embrace it. But those people do exist and in our denial of it is danger. Not just physical danger, but emotional and, most important, spiritual danger.

If the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments, and we are charged by Christ to love one another, how do we love those embracing evil and stay true to walking in faith and not be harmed by the actions of those embracing evil? It can present quite a puzzle. One that confounds us and tests us to the limits. Yet we need not despair. We’ve heard what to do when we reach the end of our rope. To reach for the hem of His robe. It is in that reach that we find our answers and the courage to do the right thing for the right reasons. To take that leap of faith and dare to trust again, to be loyal without being an enabler fostering evil.

I followed Beth and Joe—you met them in
Deadly Ties
—through their trials, and I have to say I was intrigued and on the edge of my seat. Every time I thought things were about to work out, something else happened or something was revealed that made me look at things differently, or showed me that what I believed was true wasn’t. It was at times chilling, at times heartwarming. And in the end I discovered that there is a way to endure indignities and wrongful
accusations and broken trust and torn loyalties without becoming bitter or disillusioned. His way.

May you enjoy their journey as much as I did, and may your own journey be eased in some way for having made it.

My most humble gratitude to you for traveling through the Crossroads Crisis Center series with me from
Forget Me Not
through
Deadly Ties
, and now in
Not This Time
. I pray we’re all richer for the experience.

Blessings,

Vicki Hinze

Florida

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