Anybody else have the same experience? Relationships are so often times HARD.
If you are like me, when the HARD aspects of relationships occur, the mind and heart go racing in all kinds of different directions, whether to anger, fear, anxiety, doubt, fighting, fleeing, wanting to escape, or a myriad of other responses.
There is only ONE direction that can give stability, patience, perseverance, joy, and HOPE. Direction: Upward to the God of the Bible because He has taken care of the most important relationship, reconciling us to Himself through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And because of Jesus and in Jesus, God is always up to something BIGGER in our relationships that are often HARD.
Paul Tripp says this that is so convicting to my heart. “Our relationships are never just about us. They’re never just about our plans, our purposes, and our happiness. They’re never just about who we want to be around and what we’d like to offer or receive from those relationships. There’s always something bigger going on because there’s a God who is sovereign. He puts us right where he wants us and he never gets a wrong address! In our relationships he takes us where we don’t want to go in order to produce in us and others what we couldn’t achieve on our own.”
If you want to read his longer article that gives a vivid example that is challenging and encouraging, here it is.
Reflections of a New Creation 