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August 10 Daily Devotional

Disappointed by Relationships

Peter G. Feenstra

At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:12–13

Bible Reading

Ecclesiastes 4:7–12

Devotional

The Lord created us to live in relationships. We all need someone to stand beside us and help us go down the right road and to pick us up when we are down. We all need a good friend. David drew great strength from Jonathan, whose loyal friendship encouraged and helped David tremendously. The author of Ecclesiastes says, “Two are better than one,” and that is why the Lord has given us each other in our families and in the church. Even the Lord Jesus, during His earthly ministry, was surrounded by His disciples. While He prayed in the garden in those final hours of His suffering, Christ wanted His disciples to be with Him. He needed their encouragement and chose them as His friends. Hours before they would abandon Him in His deepest hour of need He said, “You are my friends.”

It is easy to become disillusioned because the people with whom we are in relationships disappoint us. Yet if we allow these disappointments to paralyze us, we have made relationships into our idol. There is not a person on the face of the earth that can satisfy our deepest yearnings.

When you experience very pointedly the loneliness of broken relationships, betrayal and lack of friends, remember that you are loved in a way you can hardly grasp. Jesus experienced the loneliness of hell so that you might be restored into a relationship with your heavenly Father. The exalted Christ lets you sit in the heavenly realms to see life from that perspective. That is why the relationships you develop in the intimacy of marriage, in your family and in friendships need to be built on the love and forgiveness Christ secured. Jesus did something to break through your broken relationships. You were brought near the living God so that you are given confidence and comfort in your aloneness and heartache. You have been brought so near that through Jesus you may call the Almighty Lord of the universe your Father. Jesus promises to be with you to the close of this age. And when this age draws to a close something greater awaits you. You will live forever in the intimacy of the marriage feast of the Lamb. You will enjoy fellowship with the Lord and perfect intimacy with one another like you have never experienced before!

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