Relationships can take any form. From romantic relationships, marriages to friends or close families that have just drifted apart over time or due to specific problems. The Lord helps us cure all wounds if we follow the lead of Jesus. One of the things I have found that ruins all kinds of relationships is STUBBORNESS. Especially when you are the one who has been wronged. It is so easy and normal to hold on to our grudges, to feel right and vindicated in our refusal to forgive, but this feeling is not Godly.
I know how difficult it is to forgive. I know how much time can be wasted holding on to pain that someone did to us in the past, but if this past year–of coronavirus has taught me anything, it is that, I don’t want to waste any more time. Unforgiveness sucks the life and the joy out of you. While you may feel like you are justified in holding unto your pain, you are only hurting yourself. Think about all the times you fall short of what you KNOW, God is telling you to do, and yet, God keeps on forgiving you.
The disciples ask Jesus, “master how many times shall we forgive, is it 7 times?” to which Jesus responds, “not 7 but 70 x 7” (Matthew 18:21). There is no limit to forgiveness. Relationships are not just about husbands and wives, someone is praying for their children right now; perhaps the relationship that needs healing is the one with your sibling. I know people who haven’t spoken to their brother and sisters in over 15 years! God is calling you to heal and reconcile.
I have fallen into the spirit of stubbornness, I’ve been running around ranting about all I did for a family member, and how dare he not be grateful – his gratefulness should not be measured by me and in inability to show gratefulness should not be judge by me. I surrender today!
I’m a lover of music, all genres but the one close to my heart is Gospel music. The lyrics have a way of moving my spirit. For example, if I’m feeling blessed the music can enhance that feeling, if I’m feeling lost and in despair, the music can lift my spirits. As I was traveling home the other day from the grocery store a song came on There He Is and as I listened to the words I began to tear. This world can seem overwhelming alone and cold during our current crisis of the pandemic and the government behaving like caged animals with no thought to the human condition. There was a time when the government took care of its citizens – dating to colonial days, the almshouse, in the United States, a locally administered public institution for homeless, aged persons without means. Such institutions radically declined in number in the second half of the 20th century, replaced by other means of subsistence and care more commonly known as section 8 and food stamps which does not help the homeless on the street. With that said I began to feel a sense of gratitude – the more I listened to the song the more I realized where my gratitude stemmed from.
One thing I like to do is share how I focus on the lyrics of the song and disclose what they mean to me, so here goes…
Lyrics to the song in black:
I wanna know                                                            I need to remember who guides my life I wanna know I wanna know
Who is the man who said He could save                  What He’s can/will do And Who took my dark clouds away And who said that they would bring joy to my day And who said they’d wash all my sins away Now who touched my heart and changed my life And who is this One that sacrificed Well, who heard my prayers in the middle of the night And when I was blind who opened my eyes
Chorus Oh, there He is                              Where is He Reach out and touch Him There He is Call out His name There He is Don’t be afraid There He is Look up in the sky There He is It’s a bird it’s a plane There He is No it’s Jesus There He is Coming to save me There He is Hallelujah
Mmmmmm                            This is not a representation of pain, but that of peace Mmmmmm
I wanna know I wanna know I wanna know
Now who told the Son to set me free           What He has done for me before I knew Him Who laid down and died on Calvary And who said the homeless was the same as me Who took solid ground and placed my feet And who gave the purpose and reason to sing Who gave the music melody When trouble was chasing who parted my sea Somebody talk to me where is this King
Chorus
If you are young man strugglin’            Identification this is me, is it you? Or a younger girl seekin’ You don’t have to search no more Just look to the arms of Jesus You can get Him for yourself You don’t need nobody else Jesus fall to your knees and pray
Searchin’ for Jesus                           Â
Lookin’ for Jesus
Searchin’ for Jesus
Lookin’ for Jesus
Searchin’ for Jesus
Lookin’ for Jesus
Searchin’ for Jesus
And you looking for Jesus, searching for Jesus
Chorus
There He is                     If you ever search for Him, He’s right there Wherever I go There He is Wherever I turn There He is He’s all around There He is Reach out and touch Him There He is He’s right there There He is And He’s guaranteed to answer There He is All of your prayers There He is I can feel Him There He is Whoa yeah There He is He’s changing your life right now There He is Oh yes He is There He is There He is There He is When troubles come There He is Just close your eyes There He is And lift your head There He is Towards the sky There He is Just call on Him There He is And you shall find There He is He was there There He is All of the time There He is If your friends are around There He is Then you somewhere by yourself There He is Call on His name There He is He will be right there There He is No matter what the problem There He is Or the situation There He is My Jesus can fix it There He is With no hesitation There He is If your money is gone There He is And you need some help There He is On your dying bed There He is You’re not by yourself Everywhere you turn Everywhere you turn Everywhere you turn Everywhere you turn Everywhere you go Everywhere you go All around And when you walk There He is When you talk There He is And when you cry There He is Go down on your knees and call on Him Jesus reach out and touch and believe He’s right there There He is And you can do all things through Christ Jesus that strengthens you There He Is
In my early days of salvation, one of my favorite songs was a song by Kirk Franklin – The Storm is Over now – https://youtu.be/awtPSl6zFNU?list=PLCE00BF3507C2FEC2  Just when I thought the storm was over, it wasn’t long before I found myself back in not a new storm but back in an “old” storm!  Years later I found myself out of that storm and lived in the spirit of gratitude for a long time.  Every Friday night I would do my laundry and prepare dinner.  After my laundry I would put away all my clothes and iron everything that required ironing.  During this process I would listen to Gospel music.  Like clockwork I would do the exact same thing for about a year.  I found that later on when life was doing that which it is designed to  do began to wear me down, I would remember the peace I experienced while during my Friday night program.  One day after I veered away from my ritual – (you see the cares of this world had infiltrated my peaceful cocoon) I found myself in place where my spirit was disturbed and my feathers had been definitely ruffled.  I remembered the ritual of the laundry I thought to myself  okay I’ll go do some laundry and get back to that peaceful place.  However, I didn’t have any laundry to do,  so I did the next best thing, I put on the music, I put up the ironing board and just began to iron anything and sure enough God showed up!!!  Years later I was telling this story to a friend his name was Brother Rob, he said, sometimes you have to be in that place where He can find you!!!
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Do whatever it takes to find Him and He’ll find you…..
