A dear friend is just starting to pick up the pieces of what she calls a bitter heartbreak. She and her boyfriend ended their relationship over the Christmas holidays, and she didn’t see it coming. As a matter of fact, she was so convinced that he was the one for her that she purchased several of his favorite things for Christmas. She wanted to show him how much she loved and appreciated him. They’d been dating for almost two years, and she had hoped this would be her last year as a single woman. So, when he told her that he didn’t think he could go any further with her and that he wanted to take a break from the relationship, she was shattered.
Sadly, many of us have either experienced this kind of breakup or we’ve consoled friends that have gone through it. One would think that an investment of two years would have yielded something meaningful, especially when you’ve been discussing marriage for a while. Introductions to parents, gatherings and events with other family members and friends—you figure this means that things are getting serious, and then life throws you a curb ball you never saw coming. We begin to second guess our own judgement, because the person we loved so much and thought we knew has betrayed us most. The question that most of us will ask is “Father, why did You allow this to happen to me?”
After Adam sinned against God, Genesis 3:11 tells us that the Father asked Adam if he had eaten from the tree whose fruit God had commanded him not to eat. Adam responded in Genesis 3:12, “It was the woman you gave me, Lord. She was the one. It’s all her fault. She gave me the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Surely, I couldn’t be expected to refuse her. I couldn’t tell her ‘no’, so instead, I said ‘no’ to Your Word, but it wasn’t my fault. None of this is my responsibility.” Whether we admit it or not, this is the same mind and heart that we approach God with. Sin consciousness is in us, and it will always cause a person to look for someone else to blame for their conditions and circumstances. God doesn’t play the blame-game with us. Instead, He commands us to apply the correction of His Word and to renew our minds to it.
God is perfect and so is His Word. He never makes a mistake. He commands us to understand that when we follow His Word, the path is perfect. There are no mistakes when we walk the path of God’s truth. Jesus Christ showed us this through his example. He said in John 8:29(NKJV), “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” Jesus Christ always did the Will of the Father. When he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he met each temptation with, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”(Luke 4:4) Our Master Jesus wasn’t just spewing out words. He knew that living by God’s Word is the key to life in abundance. This is the way he lived his life. He lived by every Word that proceeded from the mouth of God, and this is the way God commands each of us to live as well.
The example of Christ is the measuring stick. This is us standing toe to toe with the perfect example that Christ left for us and being accountable enough to say, “Okay, Father, please reveal to me where I veered away from the path, and please help me to plant my feet firmly back on it.” It’s just that simple.
We are not to blame when people betray our trust, but we are accountable for how we respond to it. Breakups can cause the person on the receiving end to put up walls around their heart and this can be a direct hit to their relationship with God. Our Heavenly Father allows us to experience life on our own terms, and this is evidenced in His gift of free-will. He’s provided His Word as our road map for every situation, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Heavenly Father loves us, and He wants us to be emotionally sound and solid individuals. This means that we allow Jesus Christ to be Lord of our emotions, and we don’t look to any other person to be our everything, because Christ is our everything. He doesn’t share this spot with others.
Relationships will teach us a few things about where we are in life. They teach us what we truly treasure, whether we’re treasuring other people and things over our relationship with Heavenly Father. No matter who we are or where we are, life will mirror what is really going on with us internally. Our responsibility is not to look away, but to look up to God for help and direction.
In John 10:27(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This is the key to having successful relationships. It’s not complicated. We must listen to the voice of Jesus Christ. We must stay in God’s Word and renew our minds to what God says. When we don’t listen, we make investments in people and things that we shouldn’t make. Our loving Heavenly Father doesn’t sit back and watch us crumble. He isn’t punishing us. He will correct us if we will allow Him, so that we don’t continue making the same mistakes. If we humble ourselves before Him, He will heal our broken hearts and help us to make better life choices as we grow in His wisdom.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“My Children Listen to My Voice”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.