After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing." Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. - Acts of the Apostles 15:36-39 NLT
I'm drawn to relationship lessons because I strongly believe that understanding people is the most important life skill. One I find has so many lessons is the one between Barnabas and Paul, in fact I think Barnabas was underrated.
For instance, notice how Paul had a problem with Barnabas when he gave John Mark a second chance, I personally think Paul was not an easy personality do deal with and this doesn't take away from the call of God upon his life but I have reasons to believe the Apostle was a difficult man to relate with and now I see how I used to be similar to Paul until a process of disgrace which dealt with my self-righteousness and led me to understand grace well!
Now, here's what fascinates me about Paul and Barnabas: they were brought together through fasting and prayer. This is when Holy Spirit confirmed their God ordained partnership, sadly they separate because of feelings (Acts 13).
To all of you who are reading this, never walk away from a God ordained relationship without getting divine clearance. And yes, sometimes divine clearance is given to preserve destinies, I have a story to tell about this! After their separation, there were now two missions instead of one, so twice as many people were reached separation is not always an evil agenda!
