Monday, April 27, 2015

Reconciliation


The story is clear in the book of Daniel. A king proclaiming everything that was good in his kingdom as having been generated by him, and he doesn’t give God the glory for his success. The king then has a dream and Daniel interprets it as unfavorable. The king will lose his kingdom, be driven into the wilderness, become as an animal and remain that way for seven years until he turns toward heaven to proclaim God the creator and giver of all things!

Seven years was a long time to wait for deliverance. Especially to be estranged from everyone. Yet many people choose estrangement instead of attachment. Why is that?

Families everywhere split over the smallest things. Someone dies and the relatives fight over the physical property they think they’re owed. Husbands and wives become estranged when they refuse to talk things out and understand each other with God’s help. Brothers and sisters don’t speak to each other for decades because of some small argument that doesn’t mean anything today. It’s so painful.

It’s that way when someone decides to split from God, too. First it’s easy to quit having the daily connection of prayer that you used to have with Him. Those conversations when you told Him everything about yourself, the hidden parts no one else knows. You begin to put aside reading His Word once or twice a week and then pretty regularly. Before you know it you haven’t had a conversation with Him in a month or two. It soon becomes a year or more.

Down the road a tragedy strikes and you lash out at God and question His presence or worth altogether. You’re mad at Him, and for what reason? Because you are really the one who walked away. He never moved, not one step or inch. He never turned his back or marched off in anger, no matter how many words of hate you flung at him.

The king in the story of Daniel had to go down a path of separation for seven years. God never left his side or walked away—He stood right next to him. God waited for the king to change his heart along with his mind, and it took what must have seemed like an eternity.

In seven years children grow up, people die, and relationships change. Is your separation worth all the hurt you’re going through right now? Doesn’t your soul crave the lost relationship of a loving Savior, a long lost friend, or family member? Aren’t you ready for the hurt to end?

Only God can help you reweave the threads of a broken relationship and mend the tear. Do what the king did in Daniel. Lift your eyes to heaven and allow the understanding to return to you and praise the Lord who lives forever (Daniel 4:34, 36-37). Then take that first step toward reconciliation.

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