Burden Bearing

     Sometimes the things I see disturb me, when the gift of discernment God has given me is in operation. I see things other people don't. I see things behind the scenes. I'm not talking about "hallucinations" or anything like that. That would not be of God.
     Let me use an example. Some people I've known for a long time have slowly eaten more and more of the world's delights and partaken of it's allurements. In the past, they had keen discernment, and   were aware of spirits of darkness and the hooks of the enemy in their lives and avoided them at all cost.
     Their focus was on Jesus Christ alone and they followed the directives of the Holy Spirit in their lives, however unusual they were. Great moves of the Spirit resulted in others' lives because of that. They saw the ones in darkness or in lack and reached out to them even when there was danger, seeming to follow the Spirit where ever He went. Outreach to others was a major part of their lives.
     Overtime, these people tasted the world after receiving what they called "freedom" and also more money at their disposal. I observed this from afar, and watched as the frog was being boiled in the pot very, very slowly, undiscernable to the naked eye. Their "goose was being cooked" and they didn't even realize that, or the damaging effects it was having on their spiritual lives. Their focus was slowly being shifted from others to themselves, even though spiritual activity was still part of their lives. I have stood by and watched the deterioration, feeling helpless, and therefore frustrated, and almost frantic at times.
     Practically each time I am around them, I see new evidences of those effects. And those are the disturbing things I see with my spiritual eyes. I have seen a falseness in them, such as a change of personality. It's as if I don't even know them anymore. Somehow their spiritual man is diminishing, while their natural man is coming forth more strongly.
     I know God has not given me this gift to be disturbed by what I see, but to do something with it. Many years ago, He was directing me to say  a specific thing to them about this shifting, and I did not do it. I have so regretted that over the years, and have wondered if I had said it, if it would have helped them snap out of it. At that time, our relationship was at a place where they may have listened. Now, we are so far apart, there doesn't seem to be any common ground, and honestly, there is an unspoken hostility there from them to me. It's a spiritual dissonance.
     I want to cast a line, hook them and reel them back in. I want to rescue them from the world, and it's attractions. I want to help them "see" again. But since they believe that they have been freed to enjoy all things now, it would be to no avail.
     So, I wait and watch and bare their burdens; the ones they don't even know they have. It's as if I am suffering for them by what I see, and what I know they would deny and even defend. I feel sorry for them and I miss them so much, my heart has been wounded deeply.
      Every once in awhile I cry out to God on their behalf for His mercy to "heal blind eyes." If and until that happens, I will suffer as proxy for them, feeling their distance from God, and hoping that they will by God's grace, "come out from among them" once again, and "be seperate" unto Him alone.