"God can restore broken relationships." This is pretty big to hear in the times we're living in. Relationships break apart every day and people treat it like it's alright; like it's just another regular day. Parents leaving kids, a spouse breaking the promise to the other, kids leaving their family, friends betraying friends... 100 Years ago people would still be heartbroken by these things, but we just brush it off as "times changing." It's very sad. We are choosing to be a part of the very thing God died to save us from.
You see, Satan will say all he can to cause us to listen to his lies and those he puts in other people's mouths. He makes them sound so sweet; so good when they're really as bitter as Satan himself. We begin ignoring God's voice and wisdom...straying from what we know is right. We start to desire and hunger opinions from our friends or other people who seem to be wise, just because their words scratch the itch our ears long for. We seek what we want to hear instead of what God is trying to tell us.
This goes further and further...we begin to quietly mock the righteous, only looking out for our own wants and desires. We are now putting other people and their opinions over God's truth. This is the point of danger. Yes, even those who are believers can stray and go for something that goes against what they know is clearly not of God.
The instant we turn our backs to God's voice we start feeling empty. When we put our faith in Christ, He filled our hearts with Himself...His love. When we stop listening to Him, we slowly lose our ability to feel Him. Often times it takes Him bringing us to a point where we have nothing BUT Him left for us to realize how messed up we have become.
After holding our ears from His words...we begin our journey of seeking; we try desperately to find something to fill us, knowing full well we won't find it outside of Christ. The fulfillment of greed, pride and worldly desires are short lived....it only lasts for a moment...then we hunger again for more. This only empties our hearts even more and starts the endless (pointless) cycle.
The first step in getting right with God is acknowledging who He is and what He has done.
"I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?" -Isaiah 43:13
Once we have done this, He will begin to repair our hearts and humble us to a point where we can see relationships slowly repairing. Beware, we have to get to a point of being lowly before we can have repairs done on all the mess we have made. Some might say, "but, I don't want to be worthless. I can't live a life of being thought of as lowly." God's version of lowly doesn't mean you're worthless or that you mean nothing to Him. It simply means we have to be humbled. We cannot think highly of ourselves AND think God is everything we need.
"I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near," says the Lord, "and I will heal him." -Isaiah 57:18-19
Humbling ourselves means we admit we are broken; it means we admit we are nothing on our own. We NEED God. There is no way around it. Oh, it is quite easy to tell when we have a bubbling amount of pride rising up within us. Look around you, see if people are pulling away from you. Does your family avoid spending time with you? Are your friends conveniently busy every time you want to hang out? People, though each prideful in their own way, do not enjoy being around those who think more of themselves than they should. When pride becomes part of our every day routine, we become very judgmental...and nobody enjoys being around that kind of attitude.
Why is it so easy to point our finger at everyone else, but not ourselves? We make excuses about being treated poorly, saying, "well I'm just such a faithful Christian that this is all just persecution. People are treating me bad because I am being so faithful." Are we really? Or maybe we are being treated poorly because we have begun living for ourselves and nothing else. Are we doing or not doing things because we want the best or easiest way in our lives, no matter how it will affect those around us? When we start making decisions that only protect us or make US feel fantastic, we lose sight of the consequences that will hit everyone else around us...our family, friends, church, etc.
When we start making time for everything else but God, everything else will begin to fall apart. Especially relationships. Have we become so schedule minded that our Christian walk has become complacent? Do we repeat the same thing so often that it has no meaning anymore? Do we listen for the Holy Spirits voice telling us we need to take time for Him, visit more of those who are hurting, give more to those who have nothing?
I find it odd that we say we have "made time" for God during our day. Some of us (myself included) even go a whole day without opening our bibles. We take 10, 15, 20 minutes for bible study or prayer time, setting a timer to make sure we don't spend any "unnecessarily" time sitting there or letting our schedules get disorganized. We should never have to make time for God. Ever. We should live for God in every moment, in everything we do, and then make time for our other activities. If we place God in the center, right at the core, of everything we do we won't ever have to make time for Him, because He is already there.
"Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways." -Proverbs 119:37
"Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it." -Proverbs 119:34-35
We make mistakes, we break hearts and have our hearts broken. We ruin relationships and have ours ruined. But our God is a mighty God and can heal and renew anything we have made a mess of. Never, never, never give up on His promises. You (or your spouse, or your siblings, or your friends) will never be too far out of reach for God. Do not give up.
"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins." -Isaiah 43:25
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