My Friend the Catalyst

A catalyst is an amazing thing: 1. something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected; 2. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change

I am thankful to God for giving me catalyst friends. They ask the right questions. They provide a right perspective. They bring about growth and change in me.

The cool thing about having catalyst friends is in the relationship. Some leaders or teachers are only able to take you as far as they themselves have been. Desiring a very controlled change, they teach what they have learned and draw pupils down their own path. A catalyst inspires growth, but is never used up. It can come back to inspire growth another day. It can bring about change far bigger than itself.

In Christian community, we must be catalytic friends. After all, what God desires to do in another person will doubtlessly bigger than what we can do in them. Yes, that does mean that we are not in control of the change. But God is.

And here we are again. Back to the whole faith thing. Do you have enough faith to be a catalytic friend/parent/teacher, or are you afraid that the path God has chosen for another person is not as good an option as drawing them down your own?