Over the years, I’ve had people who were personally connected to me walk away from our relationship without offering any explanation for their departure. After repeated attempts to reach out and make things right, I was never given a response. In the process of our disengagement, I was willing to acknowledge any wrong or fault on my part. In the end, I realized these relationships were over unless the Lord intervened.

When I realized the cord had been severed, I was given an assignment. I was called to pray blessings over those dear people hoping they will experience God more deeply and see me through the lens of God’s mercy. I still pray those blessings over those who left me behind.

These dislocated relationships are never easy or comfortable. They are an invitation to engage people in a way that honors God and hopefully opens a door to re-establish our relationship. Within the pain of being left behind is an opportunity to reveal to all parties involved the heart of God.

To be left behind and abandoned, even betrayed is nothing new. Jesus was abandoned and betrayed by His closest friends. Those experiences had to take place for Him to experience the power of a resurrected life where the death of all things is overcome.

Always look for the hope of a resurrection in a broken relationship. Only by believing in the possibility of a resurrection can we receive the kind of hope that will keep us from living a harsh and bitter life. We will either be a prisoner of the Lord and His love responding to life as He did, or we will become imprisoned behind the bars of victimhood seeing only the unresolved offense, not the hope of a resurrection. 

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4: 1-3).