We
are even more valuable to our Heavenly Father than the birds of the air or the
flowers in the fields. They trust our faithful God for their provision and
life, and we can look to Him also (Matthew 6:26).
God
loves us so much that absolutely nothing can separate us from that love (Romans
8:38). We can break our fellowship with Him by grieving Him through our
thoughts, words or actions, but His love is unconditional.
Human
relationships change over the years. We get more comfortable with each other, we
take one another for granted and our perspective and purposes in life change. A
quiet void often replaces the passionate love that once characterized the
union.
We
"fall out of love" with our mate, and we think we need a new one. Yet,
the same scenario happens in every relationship. Commitment to one person for a
lifetime - even through the thick and the thin - is God's ordained plan for us.
Of
course, the real problem does not lay at the feet of our mate, but is within
our own heart. We have unresolved conflicts in our own soul, and we blame
significant others in our life for causing them.
Our
soul is sick, and we need our Great Physician to heal us from the inside out.
At some time in our past, people treated us like we did not matter, that our
opinion and feelings were not valuable, and we had no say-so in decisions that
affected our life.
God
cares about every pain from our past, and we can find healing under the shadow
of His wings (Psalm 91:4). He nurtures, encourages and sustains us through
every trial - we are victorious because the Victorious One abides within us.
Prayer:
Father
God, remind us that at the root of every unresolved conflict in our soul is a
lie from Satan, which he planted in every negative issue that we ever experienced.
As we sit quietly in Your presence, Your reveal to us Your truth about the
matter. Help us to use the Serenity Prayer to make peace with our past: we pray
for You to give us wisdom, so that we can change what we can, and turn the rest
over to You to resolve.
Your
love for us is four-dimensional. It has width, depth, height and length, which
surrounds us on every side (Ephesians 3:18). By focusing on the people who do
not love us unconditionally, we are giving them power over our life that they
do not deserve. Through Christ in us, we can forgive them for their human
foibles, revel in God's love and acceptance, and walk in the Spirit each moment
of our day.
Thought
for the Day:
Jesus
can relate to every pain we feel, because He too was wounded for our
transgressions, was despised and rejected by the people in His life, and was a
man of many sorrows and acquainted with grief. -
Isaiah 53:3-4; John 1:11; Matthew 26:67
