Relationships Are Hard - Encouragement Cafe - February 8

Relationships Are Hard
 By Luann Prater

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. Proverbs 27:6 (NLT)

Life is tough and relationships are hard!  Sometimes, I stink at them!  As wife, mom, child, friend, or coworker, I have missed the mark.  There are moments when a relationship seems flawless, then reality hits. 

Someone feels let down, ignored, hurt, forgotten, lonely, _________ (fill in the blank).  When you look at that woman in the mirror you believe, I’ve dropped the ball... again.

It’s exhausting and my tendency is to retreat or run.  The little recording in my head says, "Really?   It's not enough?  Okee, dokee then, i'll just slip over here and disappear.”  These days my retreat is at the end of my couch.  I flip up the footrest and reach for my favorite hiding place, God's Word. 

I’m not saying that digging into the Bible will make your circumstances right.  Your relationships may still stink.  Your finances may still be in the red.  Your job may still be gone.  Something amazing happens between my ears.  My mind shifts, from poor me to Powerful God.   That shift is CRITICAL!  It points my thoughts to what IS right. 

Suddenly the little i that captured my mind turns to the big I AM.

Instead of seeing how much I’ve messed up, I see how much He restored.

Instead of viewing my inadequacies, He highlights His Sufficiency.

Instead of reliving my failures, He plays back His Victories.

Instead of feeling like I've let others down, He reveals that I never held them up in the first place.

Instead of falling apart, He holds me together.

In the quiet moments alone with God, I no longer listen to lies but read unchangeable Truth.  This truth fortifies my vertical relationship with God so that my horizontal messy relationships with others is strengthened. 

Father, we struggle daily thinking that every relationship depends on us.  Teach us today to lean into You so that our strength is found there and Your love for us can flow through to others.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

For more encouragement, visit Luann's Life.

© 2020 by Luann Prater.  All rights reserved.

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