{Musings on Singleness} Co-Laborers?

Considering relationships. Considering the Word about relationships. And I have been meditating on a line from a poem I wrote several years ago. (The entire poem can be found here: http://jewelsoftruth.blogspot.com/2008/12/episode-1.html)

"Why must you be in my path,
and not alongside?"

The crux of my thoughts have been this: A man can either be a stumbling block or a stepping stone. A hindrance or a help. A tool of spiritual destruction or an encourager/exhorter.
One who calls you outside of God's will or one who challenges you to follow God's will.

When I was young, my family would go on vacations to various national parks around the US. And one favorite family activity was hiking. I confess, though, I did alot of whining. Often, we would be hiking up a mountain and us kids would go from bouncing off the sides of the trails in excitement to dragging our feet and whining and then just sitting on a log to rest (repeatedly). Finally, my dad would help me out... by putting his hands on my back and pushing me along. Sure, I still had to move my feet, but it's amazing how much less work hiking is when someone else is expending most of the energy... After about 1 minute of this (as long as Dad would willingly push me), I was refreshed and revived and bouncing along the trail again. :)

You are running the race, doing the work of the kingdom, looking towards Jesus... and there's a guy. You can either trip over him or run beside him. I like running beside him. :)