#leavethemthere

There comes a moment in life that no one prepares you for, a moment that feels like standing on the edge of something holy and heartbreaking at the same time. It is the moment you realize that love does not always mean staying, that compassion does not always mean continuing, and that faith does not always mean holding on. Sometimes, faith means moving forward even when others choose not to follow.

Most of us were taught that love is proven by endurance. Stay longer. Try harder. Forgive again. Explain yourself one more time. Pray one more prayer. Give one more chance. We were taught that if we leave, we failed. That if we step away, we quit. That if we stop carrying someone, we are somehow unloving or disobedient.

But that idea quietly collapses when you look closely at the life of Jesus.

Jesus met people where they were without hesitation. He entered broken places without fear. He sat with people others avoided. He listened to stories no one else wanted to hear. He showed compassion that shocked religious systems and unsettled social norms. But He never confused meeting people where they were with remaining there indefinitely.

Jesus did not build His ministry on convincing people who refused to change. He did not stay in towns that rejected Him. He did not water down truth to preserve comfort. He did not chase people who chose to walk away. He offered truth, extended grace, and honored choice.

That matters more than we realize.

Because many of us are exhausted not because we lack faith, but because we are trying to live someone else’s obedience for them. We are trying to substitute our effort for their willingness. We are trying to rescue people who have not chosen healing, and then wondering why our own spirit feels depleted.

Meeting people where they are is an act of humility. Staying there forever can become an act of fear.

Fear of being misunderstood. Fear of being judged. Fear of being called selfish. Fear of being alone. Fear of letting go of something familiar, even if it is harmful.

Jesus was not driven by fear. He was anchored in purpose.

There is a passage where Jesus feeds thousands, heals the sick, and teaches with authority. The crowds are following Him enthusiastically. Everything looks like success. And then He says something difficult. He speaks about sacrifice, surrender, and cost. Scripture tells us that many who followed Him turned back and no longer walked with Him.

Jesus does not panic. He does not chase. He does not adjust the message to keep the crowd.

He lets them go.

And then He turns to the disciples and asks if they want to leave too.

That moment reveals something essential about love. Love does not manipulate. Love does not coerce. Love does not force growth. Love invites and honors the response.

Some of us are living under the false belief that if we love enough, people will change. But love is not control. Love is not leverage. Love is not endless self-sacrifice that leads to resentment and burnout.

You can meet people where they are, but you cannot make stagnation your permanent address.

There are relationships where you have explained yourself clearly, patiently, and repeatedly. You have set boundaries gently. You have forgiven sincerely. You have prayed faithfully. And still, nothing has changed. The same cycles repeat. The same wounds reopen. The same conversations end the same way.

That is not a failure of love. That is the reality of choice.

Jesus never took responsibility for choices He did not make. He never carried shame for outcomes that belonged to others. He remained faithful to His calling even when it meant being misunderstood.

Some of us need permission to accept that staying is not always virtuous. Sometimes staying delays growth. Sometimes staying prevents accountability. Sometimes staying teaches people that they never have to change because you will always absorb the cost.

That is not love. That is self-erasure.

There is a difference between patience and postponement. Patience allows space for growth. Postponement delays obedience. And many of us are postponing the next step God is calling us to take because we are afraid of what will happen if we stop holding everything together.

Jesus withdrew regularly. He stepped away from crowds. He rested. He prayed alone. He did not attend every demand or meet every expectation. If the Son of God needed boundaries, why do we believe we do not?

We often mistake exhaustion for righteousness. We think if we are tired enough, we must be doing something holy. But Jesus promised rest, not burnout. Peace, not constant inner turmoil.

There comes a point when continuing to explain yourself becomes enabling misunderstanding. When continuing to stay becomes agreement with dysfunction. When continuing to rescue becomes interference with God’s work.

Sometimes distance is not rejection. Sometimes distance is trust.

Trust that God can speak louder than you ever could. Trust that conviction does not belong to you. Trust that growth cannot be forced. Trust that obedience matters more than approval.

Leaving does not mean you stop loving. Leaving does not mean you stop praying. Leaving does not mean you stop caring. It means you stop trying to play a role that was never yours to fill.

You are not the Holy Spirit. You are not the Savior. You are not responsible for another person’s transformation.

You are responsible for your obedience.

And obedience often feels like loss before it feels like freedom.

There will be grief in letting go. There will be silence where there used to be noise. There will be moments of doubt where you wonder if you did the right thing. But clarity eventually comes to those who choose alignment over approval.

Jesus did not remain where He was not received. He moved forward, even when it meant walking alone for a season. And every step forward carried purpose.

You are allowed to grow beyond people who refuse to grow with you. You are allowed to heal even if others prefer the familiar version of you that was easier to control. You are allowed to move forward without dragging everyone with you.

Meeting people where they are is love. Leaving them there when staying would require disobedience is faith.

And faith has always required courage.

There is a quiet shift that happens when you finally accept that not everyone is meant to go where God is taking you. It does not arrive with fireworks or certainty. It comes slowly, often through exhaustion first. Through the realization that you are explaining yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you. Through the awareness that every time you move toward healing, someone else pulls you back into old patterns. Through the ache of knowing that love should not feel like erasing yourself.

This is where faith stops being theoretical and becomes deeply personal.

Because leaving people where they are does not feel spiritual in the moment. It feels like loss. It feels like grief. It feels like standing alone in obedience while everyone else stays behind in familiarity. But Scripture has always been honest about this cost. Jesus said the path is narrow, not crowded. He warned that following Him would sometimes divide relationships, not because love fails, but because values change.

Growth creates distance when others refuse to grow.

One of the hardest things to accept is that some people only benefit from your presence, not your progress. They are comfortable as long as you stay predictable, manageable, and available. The moment you change, heal, or establish boundaries, tension appears. Resistance grows. Accusations surface. Suddenly, you are “different,” “cold,” “selfish,” or “unloving.”

But often, what they are really reacting to is loss of control.

Jesus experienced this constantly. The same crowds who praised Him questioned Him when He refused to meet their expectations. The same religious leaders who claimed devotion resisted Him when truth disrupted their authority. The same people who admired His miracles struggled with His boundaries.

And still, He did not bend.

We often talk about Jesus as gentle and compassionate, and He was. But He was also firm, clear, and unmovable when it came to His mission. He did not negotiate truth to preserve relationships that were rooted in resistance. He did not sacrifice purpose to maintain proximity.

That kind of clarity is deeply uncomfortable for people who rely on guilt to keep you close.

There is a reason you feel tension when you begin to pull back. There is a reason fear surfaces when you consider stepping away. There is a reason guilt whispers that you are abandoning people. That voice thrives on confusion between love and obligation.

But love is not obligation. Love is not fear. Love is not self-betrayal.

Love tells the truth, even when it costs connection.

There is a sacred boundary between compassion and compliance. Compassion sees people clearly. Compliance absorbs what is not yours to carry. When you cross that line repeatedly, your faith becomes distorted. You begin to believe God requires you to endure what He never asked you to tolerate.

Jesus never stayed where His presence was being used instead of received.

Some of us stay because we believe our absence would cause collapse. We fear that if we step away, everything will fall apart. But that belief quietly places us in a role we were never meant to hold. God does not build systems that depend on one person’s exhaustion to survive.

If your leaving causes collapse, it reveals fragility that was already there.

God does not need you to stay disobedient so others can remain comfortable. He does not need you to sacrifice your peace to preserve dysfunction. He does not need you to carry burdens He never assigned.

And this is where faith becomes real: trusting God with people you can no longer reach.

Letting go is not indifference. It is surrender. It is saying, “God, I have done what You asked me to do. I release what I cannot change. I trust You to work where I cannot.”

Sometimes God removes you not to punish anyone, but to allow truth to finally be felt. Some lessons only arrive when the safety net is gone. Some awakenings only come when the familiar voice stops intervening.

Your silence can be more powerful than your sermons. Your distance can speak louder than your explanations. Your obedience can do what your endurance never could.

This does not mean there is no grief. Even Jesus wept. He grieved what could have been. He mourned hardened hearts. He felt the weight of rejection. But He did not allow grief to redefine His calling.

You are allowed to grieve what you hoped people would become. You are allowed to mourn what never materialized. You are allowed to feel the sadness of leaving familiar spaces.

But you are not required to stay there.

Faith often looks like movement without affirmation. It looks like choosing peace before permission. It looks like obedience without applause. It looks like trusting God more than you trust outcomes.

And over time, something shifts.

The noise quiets. The guilt loosens. The clarity settles.

You begin to realize that leaving did not make you colder—it made you clearer. That setting boundaries did not make you less loving—it made your love honest. That moving forward did not mean you abandoned people—it meant you stopped abandoning yourself.

Jesus never asked anyone to follow Him by force. He invited, and He walked on. Those who followed did so freely. Those who stayed behind made their choice.

And so do you.

Meet people where they are with compassion. Speak truth with humility. Love sincerely. Pray faithfully.

But when staying requires you to shrink, to betray your calling, or to ignore the voice of God urging you forward, have the courage to move.

Not in anger. Not in bitterness. Not in superiority.

But in faith.

Because the same God who is calling you forward is more than capable of meeting others exactly where they are.

—Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube

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Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph