Relationships

The Lord loves special relationships and puts them in our lives with our family and friends. Yesterday I read about Jesus raising the son of the widow from the dead (Luke 7:11-17). This part stood out; "When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, 'Don't cry.'" It seems that, not only does Jesus have enormous compassion for our suffering, but that He knows it hurts to be alone. The woman was going to be terribly alone in her life, and so He brought her son back from the dead. Relationships are so important that Jesus gave hers back to her.


The widow's relationship with her son was a special relationship. It had depth and quality, such that no other person could fill it. In John 14:18 Jesus tells His disciples that He will not leave them alone, but will send them the Comforter. Also, Jesus tells them that the world cannot receive the Comforter. The relationship between the Lord and His disciples would remain special, deep and meaningful. No one else could replace it then, nor now.

I believe we are meant to have deep, special, meaningful relationships with a few people on this earth (as well as with the Lord!). We need them. Those people nourish us, and we them. Just as the world could not have a relationship with God unless they took Him seriously, so others cannot have a deep relationship with us unless they also take us seriously, and that is a side that we show guardedly. It is our human nature to be superficial with many, and deep with a few. The more people that we are involved with in our lives, the thinner we spread ourselves. If we do not take a break from thinness we feel it because we not only have less to give, but we hurt for the opportunity to be nourished. In all our busyness, we can feel all alone.

We need to give ourselves permission to say "no" to people and activities when we are feeling thin, and not feel guilty, as if we aren't being a good Christian. We are wonderful Christians . . . just ones that are beginning to count the cost of building their lives in a world full of busyness. When we are nourished, we will give deeply to others. When we are scattered and worn thin, we will be superficial. Let us come aside today, away from obligations and demands, and find those few relationships that are nourishing. And above all, let us find time to go deeply into our relationship with the Lord. Amen.