- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 18,404
Healing for wounded relationships (3)
'WHEN I SEE HIM, PERHAPS HE WILL ACCEPT ME.' GENESIS 32:20
Life doesn't come with a lifetime pain-free guarantee; and when pain comes, especially relational pain, getting life back on track involves a degree of effort and risk. If I care about you, but do something that hurts you, then I have to hope that ultimately you'll forgive me and put it behind you. To make this possible you'd have to believe that I'm truly sorry and won't do it again. This explains why healing a wounded relationship is a two-person job.
Your job is to work at trusting me again and my job is to prove that I'm trustworthy. When we start rebuilding that broken bridge of trust we shorten the distance that separates us until we can be re-united. A classic example of this is found in the story of the brothers Jacob and Esau, in Genesis 32. Jacob had ripped off his brother, then run away. Years passed until eventually Jacob knew he had to put things right. It's fair to say that Jacob was bricking it, not knowing whether his brother would hug him or hang him! Before he actually meets his brother face to face he sends him all sorts of gifts as a way of saying sorry, to make a good impression and to show he's changed. To Jacob's relief his brother isn't bitter about the past; he's dealt with it in his heart. Should you do some bridge-building today?
'WHEN I SEE HIM, PERHAPS HE WILL ACCEPT ME.' GENESIS 32:20
Life doesn't come with a lifetime pain-free guarantee; and when pain comes, especially relational pain, getting life back on track involves a degree of effort and risk. If I care about you, but do something that hurts you, then I have to hope that ultimately you'll forgive me and put it behind you. To make this possible you'd have to believe that I'm truly sorry and won't do it again. This explains why healing a wounded relationship is a two-person job.
Your job is to work at trusting me again and my job is to prove that I'm trustworthy. When we start rebuilding that broken bridge of trust we shorten the distance that separates us until we can be re-united. A classic example of this is found in the story of the brothers Jacob and Esau, in Genesis 32. Jacob had ripped off his brother, then run away. Years passed until eventually Jacob knew he had to put things right. It's fair to say that Jacob was bricking it, not knowing whether his brother would hug him or hang him! Before he actually meets his brother face to face he sends him all sorts of gifts as a way of saying sorry, to make a good impression and to show he's changed. To Jacob's relief his brother isn't bitter about the past; he's dealt with it in his heart. Should you do some bridge-building today?
