Isaiah 55:6-7 (NLT)
“6 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. 7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.”
Owning the reality of our own lives and that all we have is this exact moment has proven very challenging for some people. Instead of accepting this moment for what it is, they are constantly waiting for something more to happen or waiting for a blessing they think they need in order to be happy. Whether they know it or not, this kind of attitude and thinking puts us in a position of never being satisfied with our lives. We feel incomplete and believing this way is the exact opposite of what God says in His Word. Colossians 2:10(NLT) states, “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” We must realize that part of the work of our souls is to bring our minds and hearts in line with the truth of Colossians 2:10.
Hardly any of us see our current flaws and shortcomings for what they are. We think we know enough, that our actions and attitudes are just fine, and that we don’t have that much growing to do. This is a misunderstanding on our parts, and to please God, we must open our eyes to the truth.
Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” God’s goal for His children is for them to become like Jesus Christ. Many of us haven’t learned enough about the compassion, love, generosity, perfection, and power of Christ to know who he is. We must change this. God is telling us in Romans 8:29 that Jesus Christ is the blueprint of our design. Living, loving, talking, thinking, and walking like Christ is God’s requirement, and He expects us to respond to it. We have made a dangerous mistake in underestimating how committed God is to the changes we must make to be the very image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
We must be committed to do as Isaiah 55:6-7 says, which is to seek God and change our ways. He holds us totally responsible for doing this, but when it comes to our past relationships and the condition of our hearts today, we don’t do as He commands in this passage. We assume that we are in charge of our spiritual destinies, but this is not accurate. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we are no longer in the driver’s seat. 1Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT) informs us, “19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” We belong to God, and He has set a race to run for every person. We are to run it with patience and endurance. If our pace is not in line with the pace that God has set, we will miss the blessings that we could have had.
Amadi once had his heart broken into little pieces after a long-term relationship. The breakup was very challenging for him to accept. He wanted a reconciliation and on more than one occasion asked his ex-girlfriend to reconsider. She understood that he was having a difficult time, and she didn’t want to cause him any further pain, but her heart was somewhere else. She had met someone new but tried her best to let Amadi down gently. When it was clear that they would not be getting back together, his hurt turned to bitterness and resentment.
No one can argue that a broken heart and hurt feelings are a very difficult kind of pain to overcome. Only the love of God can heal it, but we have a significant part to play in His healing. We must open our hearts to Him first. 2Chronicles 16:9(NLT) tells us, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” A full commitment to God is one where we humbly submit ourselves to Him. We pray that He will have His way with our lives and help us to be strong. This is a person that is willing to swap out their bitterness for the joy that God freely offers us all.
If we assume a posture of regret, resentment, and blaming others for our heartache, we are not walking in our completeness in Christ. Instead, we’re allowing another individual to dictate our emotions. We’re giving them more energy and lordship than we are our blessed Savior. Oh, what a mistake this is!
If we don’t open our hearts to God, and learn greater lessons of His love, we will continue to draw people that will keep us repeating the same cycles of regret, resentment, and blame. God has a wonderful person that He wants to present to us, but our refusal to disconnect from the past, and to be healed through the love and power of Christ keeps us stuck. Many single people have been waiting a long time for a presentation from Heavenly Father. If nothing else, the wait must teach us that God is relentless about our spiritual growth. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that He is a Rewarder who rewards our diligent efforts to please Him through our faith. He is waiting on us to wake up to this truth.
We overlooked and neglected some very important components of God’s love in our past relationships. When we decide to begin again in a new relationship, we must have the lessons of love firmly in our grasp. The failed relationships of our past reveal our tendency to choose prematurely, to move without the discernment of God’s greenlight, and to be impatient with God’s process. We had no awareness of what we didn’t know, and in a new relationship this has to change. On some level, we must understand our part in where things went wrong, and we must allow God the opportunity to help us get it right. He gives us the strength to overcome feelings of heartache and pain, and when we’re committed to grow in Christ, He will infuse us with a deeper love and courage to begin again and to do it His way.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Deciding to Begin Again”, written by Kim Times, edited by Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!