Relationships in need of healing

The coronavirus has been in the forefront of the news and in the minds of so many leaders and people for months now. It reminds me that all of us are in need of healing from a deadly infection that has beset our population. This infection has caused divorce, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse, depression, broken families, and even suicide. You see people suffering from this malady daily. What is this deadly pestilence?

The good news is there is a cure. It has wonderful results. So where can we find this cure? There is a problem that the medicine that is very difficult for some to swallow. We have to want to get well.

The plague is that of broken primary relationships. The cure is called reconciliation. The price for the cure for is our foolish pride. Reconciliation brings healing to broken relationships restoring physical, emotional, and spiritual health to the afflicted and those around them.

The first primary relationship needing healing is our relationship with God. He just won’t go away. He pursues all of us with relentless love and endless patience. He desires a deep and honest relationship where you are known, loved, and accepted regardless of what you may think of yourself. He desires you to know Him in a deeply personal way. This doesn’t mean to know about Him. It means to know Him. It is the overarching theme of His all-time bestseller. He even devoted an entire chapter to what this sort of love looks like in detail. Reconciliation plays a critical role.

God has come and lived among us to show us what He is really like which is often at odds with what people think of Him. His Name is Jesus. He then willingly and freely offered Himself so that we could be reconciled to Him. We have been forgiven.

Forgiveness is an essential element for reconciliation. The need for forgiveness and reconciliation in our world is universal. Once our primary relationship with God is healed, He then asks us to work on the other primary relationships in our lives. We can’t do this in our own power. We need His help. We do this by forgiving those who have hurt us and asking forgiveness for the things we have done to hurt others and making amends where possible. It takes time but this cure works miracles.

So, what are you waiting for? This cure is available. No waiting required. Why continue to suffer? He holds out His hands waiting for you. Be reconciled to God. Many people from the illiterate and impoverished to highly educated, wealthy, and powerful, from every race, from every nation have found the cure. This plague is universal but so is the cure. The cure is more than worth the price of healing.

Bud McConnaughey serves on the staff of North Summit Church, 201 N. Division, Sandpoint.