Every relationship can experience a rift at certain times. Here are some things I have learned about experiencing a resurrection of a once broken friendship.
- Resurrection happens over time (even Jesus needed three days) and is always an act of God. It certainly won’t help if you go about it faster than you or the other person is ready for. Healing takes time and space. Allow both.
- If a resurrection occurs, a death has also occurred. Grieve it. New life will not come until you acknowledge what has been lost.
- If you cannot find healing within a relationship, you may need to step outside it permanently. I’m thinking here especially of divorce. Even if a relationship is not able to be resurrected, the individuals in the relationship are never outside God’s care.
- Walk through it at an honest pace. Walk through it at an honest pace, but walk through it. When you have been hurt, it can be tempting to withhold forgiveness. The hurt never heals until you forgive and even then, it can still surface.
- Ask God to give you patience, clarity, kindness and grace.
This message was adapted from “Resurrection in relationships” written by Sarah Scherschligt that first appeared in the April 2011 issue of Cafe. Today we remember John Calvin, renewer of the church, who died in 1564. Please pray for Women of the ELCA’s executive board as they wind up their meeting tonight.
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