The Christmas holiday days are a time of joy and excitement for many. You prepare with cheer and delight as you trim the tree. There may be lights galore in and outside the house. The centerpiece is radiant. Angelic songs fill the home with peace and love. Even shopping for gifts is fun. But for some, this highlights the remembrance of an incident that left you in pain. This could have been due to the death of a loved one. It’s possible you experienced a divorce. Whatever it is, when the person responsible for such stress and pain is a close relative, it makes this even harder to cope with. Before you realize it, you’ve gone years without speaking. This glorious occasion is no longer a time of rejoicing and celebration. It’s become a time of sorrow, despair, and discouragement. Your heart has grown hardened and callous. This also affects your relationships with others. You’re stuck at that moment and won’t move forward.
To overcome this, each person has to take responsibility for their contribution and forgive. Maybe, you reached out to reconcile, but it didn’t bring healing. The offender finds it hard to try to repair the relationship. “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.” (Psalms 51:12, AMP). Anger and bitterness have gone from simmering to dominating their life. They either affix blame or blame themselves. So, they stay distant and angry. In the meantime, this isolates you from someone you love and who is dear to your heart. This incident is like an infection. You were once inseparable. Now one terrible event has torn your family apart. You’re both suffering from two incredible losses. One is through the physical death of something you held dear. The other is because of the silence of the heart.
God, in His infinite wisdom and love for humanity, allows an unlikely occurrence to happen which; could bring healing and restoration. He summons people who offer sound counsel and help to bring hearts together. “This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12). Some are strangers. Others are those you haven’t seen in some time. They need some service you and the person you are angry with can provide. It will help mend broken hearts. The first step is to set pride aside, and; seize another chance and forgive. Then you allow their words of compassion and kindness to penetrate your heart, and God’s grace overrules. What you’ve longed for years happens. Someone’s eyes open, and their hearts are receptive.
Christmas is all about this. The birth of Jesus secures salvation in the most perplexing situations. It generates joy for sorrow. This Baby Jesus turns discouragement into encouragement. He replaces torment with unsurpassed peace. Beloved, this Christmas season, do not let it pass without forgiving and reconciling. Defeat the devil and no longer allow him to separate you from those you love. It does not matter who makes the first move. Someone has to represent the bigger person. The plan and purpose God has for your family are at state. It is worth the effort for a new beginning. Beloved, permit God to heal you and become the family God created you to be. Have a jubilant Merry Christmas.
A Prayer of Reconciliation
Lord, You long to bring us into a good fellowship with each other. Thank You that you are the mediator between God and humanity, who has the power to reconcile and bring life back in any relationship. I admit I am at a challenging time in this relationship. Though I love my family, I am overwhelmed with despair and held hostage in the wall of separation and alienation. Lord, I approach Your throne and ask You to show me what I must do to help restore this relationship. Reveal to me; my role in Your plan and the purpose You have for our family. I will no longer permit my pride and a stubborn will to overrule being compassionate. I forgive, so Your grace and mercy extinguish anger, bitterness, and resentment. Please give me Your love to dethrone my unbelief so we can walk in unity and a new season.
Enjoy this delightful musical selection; Reconciliation Song by Morris Chapman.
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