Messy Relationships...

I received a text last night from a good friend.
The promising relationship that my friend was engaged in has not turned out to be promising at all.
I am sure there are a host of reasons that this relationship has gone from romantic to "let's just be friends."
The reality is that that which seemed hopeful, exciting and a long loving future together is no longer.
My friend is sad...and rightfully so.

Relationships are messy.
They are never "clean."
Issues, idiosyncrasies, impatience, impossible standards, inconsistent expectations, improbable connections and the fact that some of us are just plain idiots when it comes to our "relationship quotient" make long lasting intimate relationships a real crap shoot.

Broken hearts are a mainstay in our world and in our lives whether we are Christians or not.

My iWitness...

Maybe that's why having a relationship with Jesus makes life so different.
Yes, we carry with us the same "baggage" as mentioned above, but...
He doesn't!

Jesus meets us where we are...
Walks with us...
Talks with us...
Never leaves us...
Never abandons us...
Always loves us...
Always accepts us...
He knows us through and through...and in spite of that knowledge He still vows to be with us no matter what...
On the dance floor of life... Jesus dances all night long with us and never, ever walks off the dance floor leaving us stranded and "partnerless."

It is no accident...
It is a choice that Jesus chooses to be with us and to love us.
Is it messy?
You bet!

Is it painfully chaotic as we bounce to and fro, being tossed about by the waves of indecision and infidelity?
Yep!

Do our hearts yearn for unconditional love and when we yell out of desperation, "Jesus will you please forgive me and will you please stay with me and will you promise never to leave me or forsake me and will you please wrap your arms around me because my heart is so broken, will you please?"

"Yes...", declares the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

The answer is always, "Yes!"

Do I believe that?
Yes!

Do you believe that?

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34. 18)

"He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds." (Psalm 147. 3)

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61. 1-3)