Restoration of a Relationship
Now Think On This
Steve Martin
"But the things
which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His
Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. "Therefore repent and return,
so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come
from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed
for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things
about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
(Acts
3:18-22, NASU)
The Lord Jesus is all about restoration – restoring those
things that have been broken, that have been torn apart. His everlasting plan is
for harmony among people, for us to get along, to accomplish His originally initiated
purpose in each of our lives. He wants to see all things made new.
As the Scriptures declare, there is coming a time when He
will restore all things. Times of refreshing are coming, when we are in the
presence of the Lord. There is hope in Him.
He especially loves restoring relationships between people.
There are many stories of just that in the Bible. Joseph was restored to his
father and brothers. Jacob and Esau’s relationship became restored after many,
many years apart. During that time, Jacob had feared for his life, but in the
end, the two brothers were family again.
Our Father’s heart is for good, as He says in Jeremiah
29:11-14, 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans
for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 'Then you
will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 'You will
seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
'I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will
restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the
places where I have driven you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will bring you back
to the place from where I sent you into exile.' (NASU)
We can see Him fulfilling that promise for the Jews, of
restoring them to their land, as they come back to their promised land of
Israel. Because of that happening right before our eyes, it is another reason we can trust Him to fulfill the rest of His promises. Even in our lives.
Each of us has a relationship or more that has been broken.
A marriage that went bad after many years of clinging on; a father and his son,
who no longer speak to one another; a mother and her now adult daughter, who
live miles apart, wondering if the phone call or text will ever come from the
other.
Even one-time good friends from church have experienced broken
relationships. Whatever happened to them we wonder, as we recall that day they
left out of dismay, or even anger. We expect that we will never see them again,
or so it would seem.
It hurts. We feel that pain of not having those family and
friends around anymore. We know the rejection that each one experienced, and yet
we are not sure how to get it back together again. Do we even attempt to try?
Do we really want to? What if we are only rejected again? Will it only increase
the loss and heart’s pain we already have?
We are especially conscious of lost relationships during
holiday seasons, or annual dates like a birthday, anniversary, or vacation times
we used to celebrate and have together. Those once great memories of fun and
happiness have now been replaced with loneliness, empty feelings, and thoughts
of “Why?”
Can a relationship be restored? I believe they can. But it
will take faith and courage on your part to begin the journey back. You may
have to be the one to make the first move.
When in a prayer time recently, early one morning, the Lord
brought back to memory a situation where I walked out, in haste, and a bit
annoyed, from a relationship I had with another. I used the excuse of blaming
it on a miscommunication with that good friend. So rather than get together and
discuss the issue, I wrote an email to terminate my involvement with their
ministry. I figured that that time in my life was up anyway. Besides, I had
other things I wanted to accomplish.
But I was wrong in how I handled it.
So in repentance, and obedience to the Lord after He spoke
to me during that prayer time, I sent an email to them, not sure how they would
respond, if even they did. I wrote of my fault, and asked them to reconsider
what we once had.
Thankfully they responded, and shared how they too had missed
our friendship. The ice had been broken. Restoration was beginning.
Maybe the one you’d like to get back together with won’t
initiate getting on the pathway back to where it was. Maybe they too are
thinking as you are right now, it won’t happen. So maybe you are the one to
make the first move anyway?
Ask the Lord to walk before you as you do make the attempt
at restoration. His heart in the matter is right there for you. What a joy it
will be when that relationship is restored.
It won’t be simple. They may totally ignore you. It may not
happen overnight, and many attempts might just be needed. But what if you don’t
try?
It is something to think about. I hope you do, and make
that move back to restoration.
Ahava and shalom,
Steve Martin
Love For His People, Inc.
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Now Think On This - In the year of our Lord 12.12.15 - #218
–“Restoration of A Relationship” – Saturday
at 7:00 am in Charlotte, NC.
All previous editions of Now Think On This can
be found on this Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This
Again, I would be most grateful if you'd share this
encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social
media icons below. Thanks! Steve
